Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
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 from April 10-16
A pair of upcoming UFC cards have received minor shakeups after two withdrawals resulted in a new fight booking.
A pair of upcoming UFC cards have received minor shakeups after two withdrawals resulted in a new fight booking.
With Nate Maness out of UFC 288 because of injury, that opened up a spot opposite [autotag]Zhalgas Zhumagulov[/autotag]. And with Carlos Candelario injured ahead of his UFC Fight Night 222 bout vs. [autotag]Rafael Estevam[/autotag] on April 22, Estevam now will step in two weeks later to meet Zhumagulov on May 6 at UFC 288 in Newark, N.J.
Multiple people with knowledge of the situation informed MMA Junkie of the shakeup. They asked to remain anonymous since the UFC has yet to make any announcements.
Estevam (11-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC), an undefeated Brazilian, will make his UFC debut after earning his opportunity last September with a second-round TKO victory on Dana White’s Contender Series.
Zhumagulov (14-8 MMA, 1-5 UFC), who fights out of Kazakhstan, is looking to snap a three-fight skid, which includes split decisions to Jeff Molina and Charles Johnson in his two most recent appearances.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=420030788]
With the addition, here is the updated UFC 288 lineup:
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN, ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 288.
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 from March 6-12.
UFC 288 has an official location and venue as the fight card fills out.
UFC 288 is officially headed to the Garden State.
On Tuesday, UFC officials announced the May 6 pay-per-view event will take place at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., the first time the promotion has held an event at that venue since an August 2019 card headlined by Colby Covington and Robbie Lawler.
The targeted title fight between [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] (22-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) and [autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag] (16-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) was not among the fights including in the UFC’s announcement.
A potential UFC lightweight title eliminator between former champion [autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag] (33-9 MMA, 21-9 UFC) and [autotag]Beneil Dariush[/autotag] (22-4-1 MMA, 16-4 UFC) was made official.
Two fights included in the announcement had not previously been released.
Jiu-jitsu ace [autotag]Kron Gracie[/autotag] (5-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) returns from a three-year layoff to take on [autotag]Charles Jourdain[/autotag] (13-6-1 MMA, 4-5-1 UFC). Gracie has largely remained off the grid since an October 2019 loss to Cub Swanson. It was the first defeat of his pro MMA career. Jourdain will look to snap a two-fight skid.
Additionally, flyweights [autotag]Nate Maness[/autotag] (14-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC) and [autotag]Zhalgas Zhumagulov[/autotag] (14-8 MMA, 1-5 UFC) will square off.
The updated UFC 288 lineup includes
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 288.
The MMA world said goodbye to more than 35 notable fighters in 2022, from former UFC champions to future UFC Hall of Famers and more.
MMA is a constantly evolving sport with a revolving door of athletes entering and exiting. Currently fighters from the era that helped make the sport so popular are beginning to trickle away from competition and hang up their gloves to move on to the next chapters in their lives.
If there’s one thing that’s well known about combat sports retirements, though, it’s that they often don’t last long. The urge to compete and, perhaps more importantly, get a payday will continue to drive fighters back, even well beyond their expiration dates.
In 2022, there was an uptick in notable fighters announcing they are retired, and we have a list of those who opted to walk away last year.
UFC Fight Night 215 fighters took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay, a program that continued after the UFC’s deal with Venum.
LAS VEGAS – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 215 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $80,000.
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 215 took place at the UFC Apex. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.
The full UFC Fight Night 215 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
* * * *
[autotag]Kennedy Nzechukwu[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Ion Cutelaba[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Waldo Cortes-Acosta[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Chase Sherman[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Muslim Salikhov[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Andre Fialho[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Jack Della Maddalena[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Danny Roberts[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Charles Johnson[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Zhalgas Zhumagulov[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Jennifer Maia[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Maryna Moroz[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Miles Johns[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Vince Morales[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Ricky Turcios[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Kevin Natividad[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Vanessa Demopoulos[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Maria Oliveira[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Brady Hiestand[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Fernie Garcia[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Natalia Silva[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Tereza Bleda[/autotag]: $4,000
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 and Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts. 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 2022 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:
Year-to-date total: $7,634,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $13,812,000
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 215.
[vertical-gallery id=2598145]
Check out all the facts and figures from UFC Fight Night 215, which featured a number of notable feats.
The UFC closed its November schedule on Saturday with UFC Fight Night 215, a decision-heavy event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
One fighter who didn’t need the judges, however, was [autotag]Kennedy Nzechukwu[/autotag] (11-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC), who made the most of his makeshift main event opportunity with a second-round TKO of [autotag]Ion Cutelaba[/autotag] (16-9-1 MMA, 5-8-1 UFC) in their light heavyweight clash.
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 215.
The best facts and figures to come out of UFC 264, which saw Dustin Poirier make history with his trilogy-fight win over Conor McGregor.
The biggest MMA event of the year so far went down Saturday when UFC 264 took place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The highly anticipated lightweight trilogy fight in the main event ended in unexpected fashion when [autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag] (28-6 MMA, 20-5 UFC) defeated [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) by first-round TKO after the former two-division champion suffered a broken tibia.
Regardless of how it happened, it’s a win for “The Diamond,” who further entrenched his legacy in the UFC record books.
For more on the numbers, check below for 50 pre-event facts coming out of UFC 264.
Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 264 took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $218,000.
LAS VEGAS – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 264 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $218,000.
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 264 took place at the T-Mobile Arena. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.
The full UFC 264 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
* * * *
[autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Stephen Thompson[/autotag]: $16,000
[autotag]Tai Tuivasa[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Greg Hardy[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Irene Aldana[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Yana Kunitskaya[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Sean O’Malley [/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Kris Moutinho[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Max Griffin[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Carlos Condit[/autotag]: $21,000
[autotag]Michel Pereira[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Niko Price[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Ryan Hall[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Dricus Du Plessis[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Trevin Giles[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Jennifer Maia[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Jessica Eye[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Brad Tavares[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Omari Akhmedov[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Zhalgas Zhumagulov[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Jerome Rivera[/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 2011 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 2021 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:
Year-to-date total: $2,332,500
Program-to-date total: $2,332,500
Watch Zhalgas Zhumagulov pick up his first UFC win, submitting Jerome Rivera at UFC 264.
[autotag]Zhalgas Zhumagulov[/autotag] picked up his first UFC win in dominant fashion.
The flyweight fighter submitted Jerome Rivera in the first round of their flyweight contest in the opening bout of Saturday’s UFC 264 event in Las Vegas. Zhumagulov (14-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC) tapped Rivera with a nasty guillotine choke. The official stoppage came at the 2:02 mark of the first round.
The bout started at a high pace with both fighters exchanging hard right off the start. Zhumagulov was able to force a clinch against the cage where he was able to lock up a modified guillotine to get the tap.
[lawrence-related id=630780,631729]
Zhumagulov was on a two-fight losing streak entering UFC 264. Prior to the skid, he had four consecutive wins, which included decision wins over veteran Tyson Nam and former UFC title challenger Ali Bagautinov.
Below is Zhumagulov’s guillotine finish over Rivera:
How's that for a first win in the UFC 😱
🇰🇿 @ZhakoZhumagulov gets a first RD tap! #UFC264 pic.twitter.com/ZvWSVfXiY6
— UFC (@ufc) July 10, 2021
[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqvpne7c1q486dvv player_id=01f5k5h8pz3brj4xqb image=https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
[vertical-gallery id=631881]
[vertical-gallery id=631075]
[listicle id=630784]
[pickup_prop id=”9471″]
