Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submission from September 2023.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from September 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month award for September.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
UFC women’s flyweight Manon Fiorot sees a nice jump in the latest rankings after arguably the biggest win of her career over Rose Namajunas.
The latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings saw a few moves thanks to the action this past weekend at UFC Fight Night 226 in Paris.
The biggest move of the week goes to [autotag]Manon Fiorot[/autotag], who scored arguably the biggest win of her career – a unanimous decision – against two-time strawweight champion Rose Namajunas making her divisional debut. Fiorot entered fight week No. 8 at 125 pounds; now she sits at No. 5, leapfrogging Taila Santos, Juliana Velasquez and Jessica Andrade. Fiorot’s victory, however, wasn’t enough to move past No. 4 Erin Blanchfield, with whom Fiorot is in the running for the next title shot.
The results at UFC Fight Night 226 also produced a rankings newcomer and return – both honorable mentions. At lightweight, [autotag]Benoit Saint-Denis[/autotag] replaces former champ Rafael dos Anjos (now at welterweight) after his second-round TKO of Thiago Moises. And at light heavyweight, former title challenger [autotag]Volkan Oezdemir[/autotag] is back in the mix as he replaces Rob Wilkinson following a first-round submission of Bogdan Guskov.
[autotag]Ciry Gane[/autotag] put on a masterful performance against Serghei Spivac in the UFC Fight Night 226 main event, but he stays put at No. 4 in the heavyweight rankings right behind Sergei Pavlovich.
Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.
Check out all the facts from UFC Fight Night 226, such as Rose Namajunas being on the first true losing skid of her career.
The UFC’s second trip to Paris was another significant event for French MMA with UFC Fight Night 226 going down Saturday at Accor Arena.
Multiple French fighters on the card thrived, but none more than former interim UFC heavyweight champion [autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag] (12-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC, who thrived in the main event with a second-round TKO of [autotag]Serghei Spivac[/autotag] (16-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) to rebound from his loss against Jon Jones earlier this year.
For more on the numbers behind the headliner, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC Fight Night 226.
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Volkan Oezdemir showed off his ground game at UFC Fight Night 226, and he has Khamzat Chimaev partially to thank for that.
PARIS – [autotag]Volkan Oezdemir[/autotag] showed off his ground game at UFC Fight Night 226.
Oezdemir (19-7 MMA, 7-6 UFC) submitted Bogdan Guskov (14-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) with a rear-naked choke in the first round in Saturday’s main card at Accor Arena in Paris. Oezdemir credits his time training at All Star Gym in Sweden with [autotag]Khamzat Chimaev[/autotag], which led to his first submission win since 2012.
“I took it how it came, but I also put a lot of emphasis on my ground,” Oezdemir told reporters at the UFC Fight Night 226 post-fight news conference. “Now I’ve been training at All Star for my third camp. I feel really great. The first two camps were back-to-back. I just came, it was like eight weeks before the fight. So, full camp, a lot of volume, three to four trainings a day, really hard.
“Training with Khamzat, it was really tough. It put a toll on the body, then I was off two weeks vacation, come back again, another camp, felt overtrained, but fought. But now with the offseason, being able to train now, I can feel the progression, work on my techniques, understand all the concepts they can propose, and now you can see that in my fight.”
Oezdemir gained confidence in knowing that if he can handle Chimaev’s wrestling in the practice room, no one should trouble him in a fight. He plans on helping him out for his upcoming fight against Paulo Costa at UFC 294 on Oct. 21 in Abu Dhabi.
“Once you’re able to protect a takedown, just stand back up against this guy, you know you’re going to be able to do that against everybody else,” Oezdemir said. “Just the input he puts, the volume, and the intensity he brings all the camp, it’s really amazing. So, now he’s training in Abu Dhabi, I’m going to also be following him during the last phase of his camp preparing for his next fight.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 226.
UFC Fight Night 226 fighters took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay, a program that continued after the UFC’s deal with Venum.
PARIS – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 226 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $128,500.
The program, a comprehensive plan that includes outfitting requirements, media obligations and other items under the fighter code of conduct, replaces the previous payments made under the UFC Athlete Outfitting Policy.
UFC Fight Night 226 took place at the Accor Arena in France. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.
The full UFC Fight Night 226 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
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[autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Serghei Spivac[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Manon Fiorot[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Rose Namajunas[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Benoit Saint-Denis[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Thiago Moises[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Volkan Oezdemir[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Bogdan Guskov[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]William Gomis[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Yanis Ghemmouri[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Morgan Charriere[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Manolo Zecchini[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Taylor Lapilus[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Caolan Loughran[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Ange Loosa[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Rhys McKee[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Nora Cornolle[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Joselyne Edwards[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Farid Basharat[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Kleydson Rodrigues[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Jacqueline Cavalcanti[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Zarah Fairn[/autotag]: $4,500
Under the UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance program’s payout tiers, which appropriate the money generated by Venum’s multi-year sponsorship with the UFC, fighters are paid based on their total number of UFC bouts, as well as Zuffa-era WEC fights (January 2007 and later) and Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts (April 2261 and later). Fighters with 1-3 bouts receive $4,000 per appearance; 4-5 bouts get $4,500; 6-10 bouts get $6,000; 11-15 bouts earn $11,000; 16-20 bouts pocket $16,000; and 21 bouts and more get $21,000. Additionally, champions earn $42,000 while title challengers get $32,000.
In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-30 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.
Full 2023 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:
Year-to-date total: $5,735,500
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $20,324,500
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 226.
Check out these photos highlighting Volkan Oezdemir’s submission win over Bogdan Guskov at UFC Fight Night 226.
Check out these photos highlighting [autotag]Volkan Oezdemir[/autotag]’s submission win over Bogdan Guskov at UFC Fight Night 226 from Accor Arena in Paris. (Photos by Per Haljestam, USA TODAY Sports)
Volkan Oezdemir wasted no time at UFC Fight Night 226.
PARIS – [autotag]Volkan Oezdemir[/autotag] wasted no time at UFC Fight Night 226.
Oezdemir (19-7 MMA, 7-6 UFC) stunned [autotag]Bogdan Guskov[/autotag] (14-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) on the feet and pounced on him for his first submission win in over 11 years. The rear-naked choke finish came at the 3:46 mark of Round 1 on Saturday at Accor Arena.
Check out the replay of Oezdemir’s finish below (via Twitter):
Volkan Oezdemir locks in for the submission win 🔒 #UFCParis pic.twitter.com/GW6ITiVEWD
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 2, 2023
Oezdemir has won two of his past three fights. Saturday marked his first finish since August 2019. Guskov has a four-fight winning streak snapped.
Up-to-the-minute results of UFC Fight Night 226 include:
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 226.
Volkan Oezdemir has been around the block in the UFC. Now he hopes he can fight for the promotion in his home country of Switzerland.
PARIS – [autotag]Volkan Oezdemir[/autotag] has been around the block in the UFC.
The man has challenged for a light heavyweight title. He’s been in the cage with future champions and title challengers. And in his pro career, he’s fought in a full dozen different countries. Oezdemir (18-7 MMA, 6-6 UFC) fights UFC newcomer Bogdan Guskov (14-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) on Saturday in France, though it actually will be his second fight in the country.
What Oezdemir really wants, though, is for the UFC to touch down in his home country of Switzerland. Heretofore, the closest the promotion has come are events in Paris and Germany. But the 33-year-old hopes an influx of Swiss talent into the UFC might help set the wheels in motion.
Oezdemir talked about that and more at Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night 226 media day in Paris.
Check out the full interview in the video above. UFC Fight Night 226 takes place Saturday at Accor Arena and is the UFC’s second visit to France. The event streams on ESPN+.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 226.
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All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.
MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.
But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.
Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC or Bellator.
Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by a promotion from June 19-25.
Azamat Murzakanov will look to crack the light heavyweight top 10 when he takes on a perennial contender and former UFC title challenger.
[autotag]Azamat Murzakanov[/autotag] will look to crack the UFC light heavyweight top 10 when he takes on a perennial contender.
Murzakanov (13-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) meets [autotag]Volkan Oezdemir[/autotag] (18-7 MMA, 6-6 UFC) at a UFC Fight Night event Sept. 2 from Accor Arena in Paris, promotion officials announced Wednesday.
Incoming Bout!@Volkan_Oezdemir vs Azamat Murzakanov added to #UFCParis!
🎟️ https://t.co/QsbtnZHI06 pic.twitter.com/iKwRnLJSJO
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) June 21, 2023
Undefeated in his professional career, Murzakanov has knocked out four of his past five opponents. The 34-year-old most recently defeated Dustin Jacoby by unanimous decision in April at UFC on ESPN 44.
Former title challenger Oezdemir has lost three of his past four to top-ranked light heavyweights, including former champion Jiri Prochazka. His lone win in that stretch came last July over Paul Craig, who was unbeaten in his previous six fights going into their bout.
With the addition, the UFC Fight Night lineup includes:
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