There’s an eight-hour time difference between Las Vegas and London, so when you’re Michael “Venom” Page (or any other diehard MMA fan), you get used to late nights.
If you’re negotiating with the UFC on a new contract, as Page found himself this past weekend, all bets are off.
“I genuinely had zero sleep in 48 hours,” Page said on The MMA Hour.
Page became a free agent this summer after a 10-year run with Bellator MMA, and with that came lots of late nights and texts. A breakout star in Bellator, there were plenty of options on the table. But there was one he favored most.
“The top choice was definitely the UFC, but at the same time, it was nice to feel wanted, shall I say,” he said.
Page brought to the table an undeniable charisma in and outside of the cage, and of course an exciting style that’s filled his highlight reel with explosive knockouts. He took some extra cues, however, from three-time Bellator champ Michael Chandler in evaluating a move to the UFC. Chandler became an instant octagon star for his all-action fighting style.
“It was nice to see someone take that step ahead of me and see how he’s been received,” Page said. “He’s an amazing athlete and exceptional person to watch inside the cage. Regardless of the result, he just leaves it all in the cage.”
But for Page, it’s one thing to want a UFC contract and other to actually get it done on paper. He wasn’t a run of the mill free agent, and he wasn’t going to accept any offer to compete in the octagon.
“I know for a fact that I’ve created a lot of hype and made a lot of noise outside — the media in the MMA world all know who I am,” he said. “You can get a sense of that when I go to certain places and people recognize me, and it’s interesting that I could be in the same room as another UFC fighter, and a lot of people are more interested in seeing and meeting with me, which is nice. I figured that if I tested that free agency, I would get that kind of attraction.”
Page had run into UFC CEO Dana White on a couple different occasions, but they’d never sat down for an extended conversation. When they finally spoke, he said White was far different than the bombastic personality often seen in press conferences. So then it became a matter of coming to an agreement everyone could abide by, and fast.
“I’m staying up because, obviously, the time difference, so [manager] Audie [Attar] is messaging me, ‘This is what’s being said,’ and I’m messaging him back, and it was just back and forth,” Page said. “I had a long day Saturday in the day with my family and everything, announcing to my family, look it’s confirmed, it should be announced after the UFC. And then I stayed up to watch the UFC because we had the trailers that we wanted to put out as soon as he said it.”
For all the rush to put pen to paper, the actual announcement was tame. At the post-fight press conference for UFC 296, White started the gathering by announcing Page would fight Kevin Holland at UFC 299, and then he opened up the floor for questions.
“It was crazy getting everything done,” Page said. “It was like, ‘We want to get it done so we can announce it,’ and so I kind of knew it was going to be announced in the post-press conference of UFC.
“But he did it so casual — it was very interesting to me, more than anything. I’m not sure who said it, but it was like, ‘You’re just going to drop it like that?’ I kind of like the fact that he did it in such a blase way, and then it just made loads of noise afterward.”
From the second White dropped the news, Page and his team were at work promoting it on social media. They’d already crafted a teaser video for his decision to sign with the UFC or PFL, the apparent leading candidates in his free agent sweepstakes, and made graphics with him donning UFC gear.
“So yeah, a long 48 hours,” Page said. “People were like, ‘I don’t know how you’re still up,’ but when it comes to work, I’m ready.”
The rollout for Page’s octagon arrival may have been muted, but he promises that when he gets into the cage to do his real work, no more noise will be needed.
“The storm is not now,” he said. “It feels like there’s a big storm around my name. But the storm is when I get in the cage, trust me.”
Ali Abdelaziz, the manager of reigning lightweight world champion Islam Makhachev, believes Justin Gaethje should receive the next shot at the 155-pound crown.
Originally, Makahchev was slated to defend his title against Charles Oliveira in a rematch at UFC 294 in October, but ‘Do Bronx’ was forced to withdraw from the bout after sustaining a cut whilst training. The ‘Dagestani Destroyer’ went on to defend his title definitively against short-notice replacement Alexander Volkanovski at the event.
Many assumed that the UFC would simply rebook Makhachev vs. Oliveira 2 for some time in 2024, but if Abdelaziz gets his wish, the promotion will move on from that matchup for something a little more fresh.
“@MAKHACHEVMMA vs @Justin_Gaethje Next, this is the fight to make,” Abdelaziz wrote on X.
@MAKHACHEVMMA vs @Justin_Gaethje Next, this is the fight to make
— Ali Abdelaziz (@AliAbdelaziz00) December 24, 2023
Abdelaziz followed that up with another post that served as a warning to the potential title challenger.
“@Justin_Gaethje you will never be the same after you fight him remember that.”
@Justin_Gaethje you will never be the same after you fight him remember that
— Ali Abdelaziz (@AliAbdelaziz00) December 24, 2023
Islam Makhachev Agrees with his manager
The champ echoed similar sentiments in a recent interview, making it clear that he is no longer interested in any rematches.
“To be honest, I’ve already told [UFC] I’m not interested in rematches,” he said. “Because if you want to [be a champion] in a good way, you have to add new names. There is [Justin] Gaethje, who I would say deserved a fight. I think it would be more interesting to fight him.”
Islam Makhachev latest interview. pic.twitter.com/Es1LOoHdYd
— king Makhachev (@P4P_islam_) December 9, 2023
Of course, with Ali Abdelaziz representing both Islam Makhachev and Justin Gaethje, he stands to cash in no matter the outcome.
Jan Blachowicz | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Jan Blachowicz won’t be back in the octagon for a while.
On Saturday, the former UFC light heavyweight champion posted an update on his health on social media, two weeks after announcing that he was pulling out of a rematch with Aleksandar Rakic scheduled for UFC 297 on Jan. 20.
Blachowicz cited an injury to his shoulders that would require surgery. Now, it appears that he’ll have to wait for both shoulders to be taken care of after having the right one recently operated on.
See Blachowicz’s post below.
First shoulder operated on. Unfortunately, there was too much work to do with one, so they couldn’t fix both at once. Another surgery soon. I’ll have to wait a little longer to come back.
I wish you all Merry Christmas! pic.twitter.com/RDIIxDSBgm
— Jan Blachowicz (@JanBlachowicz) December 23, 2023
“First shoulder operated on,” Blachowicz wrote. “Unfortunately, there was too much work to do with one, so they couldn’t fix both at once. Another surgery soon. I’ll have to wait a little longer to come back.”
Two months shy of his 41st birthday, it’s unclear when Blachowicz will be in fighting shape again. He most recently fought at UFC 291 this past July, where he dropped a narrow split decision to future champion Alex Pereira. Prior to that, the former light heavyweight champion came close to regaining his title after fighting Magomed Ankalaev to a split draw at UFC 282 with a vacant belt on the line.
Rakic has already been re-booked after losing his UFC 297 clash with Blachowicz. He fights Jiri Prochazka at UFC 300 in Las Vegas on April 13.
Paul “Triple H” Levesque, Ari Emanuel, and Dana White | Photo by Michelle Farsi/Zuffa LLC
The global pandemic crushed a lot of businesses across the globe, but it’s safe to say the UFC is one of the biggest success stories to emerge from that disastrous time.
While the pandemic prompted down years for just about everybody, the UFC still exploded in popularity over the past three years, securing bigger sponsorship deals, higher viewership, and strangely enough an invulnerability to losing fan interest in events that didn’t always have great name value attached. Case in point: Conor McGregor hasn’t fought since 2021 yet the past two years have still been the best ever for the UFC financially.
Now that the UFC operates as a publicly traded company — first under Endeavor and now as part of TKO Group Holdings — financial disclosures are regularly reported. What that shows is that the UFC has become a juggernaut of profitability, with revenue increases quarter after quarter, transforming the promotion into a company valued at over triple the-more-than $ 4 billion price tag Ari Emanuel and his investors at Endeavor paid for it in 2016.
UFC went on a ridiculous streak of sellouts at arenas, and while that momentum eventually stopped, the organization has still broken several live gate records over the past year.
A deep dive into the numbers in 2023 proves that the UFC isn’t slowing down, and if anything, the organization may be gaining steam heading into 2024 and beyond — 2025 will almost assuredly become the UFC’s biggest financial year because the company will ink a new broadcast rights deal worth billions. Multi-billions actually.
But for now, we’re going to take a look at the biggest business stories related to the MMA world in 2023 — and just for transparency’s sake, there’s one issue we won’t be tackling with this article, which is the effect of the ongoing class-action lawsuit against the UFC. That’s not to say information revealed from the lawsuit won’t be referenced, but its full financial impact won’t be felt until there’s either a settlement or the case goes to trial, and that’s not happening in 2023.
So with that said, let’s get started with a look at the UFC’s financials based on disclosures through the first nine months of the year (the final quarter won’t be reported until early 2024 so those aren’t available just yet).
UFC Produced More Than $ 1 Billion in Revenue in Just 9 Months
That’s probably the most staggering number to start with, because the UFC managed to rake in record revenues without even taking into account the final three months of the year, which included three pay-per-view cards in Abu Dhabi, New York, and Las Vegas.
In the nine-month span ending on Sept. 30, the UFC earned revenue reaching $ 1,009.4 billion which was up from $ 868.4 million from the same time in 2022.
Breaking that down by segment — the bulk of the UFC’s revenue comes from media rights like the promotion’s deal with ESPN, which has paid out $ 702.5 million through September. That number is up more than $ 80 million from 2022.
Live events accounted for $ 115.6 million, with sponsorship totaling $ 148 million. Finally, consumer products, which includes t-shirt and merchandise sales, hit $ 43.3 million thus far in 2023.
Those are all huge numbers, and the final figures will reach even higher because that’s not even accounting for the holiday season, which will undoubtedly bump up the revenue for consumer products in particular.
While the UFC reports financial disclosures as required by law as a publicly traded company, there’s still no direct insight on the company’s pay-per-view sales, but it’s safe to say those are robust given the massive revenue that was earned in 2023. While live gate numbers don’t always translate to PPV sales, UFC 295 is a good example of the “we just can’t miss” right now philosophy happening at the UFC after the card lost Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic as the main event and still produced a live gate at $ 12,432,563, the second-highest ever at New York’s Madison Square Garden venue.
Care to venture a guess what’s No. 1?
Yep, that would be UFC 205 back in 2016, which earned $ 17.7 million in a live gate for the first-ever card for the promotion in New York, with Conor McGregor headlining.
As far as the overall live gates for 2023 PPVs — minus UFC 283 in Brazil and UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi, where no attendance or live gate numbers were made available — the biggest was UFC 295 in New York while the lowest was UFC 289, with a live gate of $ 3,834,893 for the card in Vancouver headlined by Amanda Nunes vs. Irene Aldana.
The attendance and live gates for UFC Fight Night cards were also robust, as the promotion continued cutting costs by promoting a number of events at the UFC APEX. APEX cards cost very little outside of the talent and production staff required to work the events and the shows still manage impressive ticket sales through Endeavor’s On Location premium event services business, where interested fans can pay north of $ 2,000 per ticket for a VIP experience.
In other words, the UFC raked in a lot of profits for 2023.
UFC Inks Massive Deal with Bud Light
Another marquee moment for the UFC’s business in 2023 came when the promotion announced a new multi-year deal with Anheuser-Busch for Bud Light to become the official beer of the UFC in 2024.
While the UFC didn’t report any dollar amounts, the deal was reportedly worth more than $ 100 million, which makes it one of the richest sponsorships the company has ever signed.
Bud Light was one of the first real blue-chip sponsors to start working with the UFC several years ago when the promotion was still trying to build into a global powerhouse. Now, those roles are reversed, with Bud Light back in business with the UFC as the beer brand attempts to rebuild itself after a tumultuous 2023, which saw Bud Light sales dip for the year.
UFC CEO Dana White has defiantly defended the new partnership amid calls from some of his most loyal supporters after the beer brand partnered with trans activist and social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney. White fired back at critics over the partnership while reminding the world that he doesn’t work with anyone who doesn’t share his core beliefs.
“This was all about everybody on every side of this deal that were involved, other beer companies and everything else, [and they] absolutely, positively know this was not about money for me,” White said in October. “We were going to end up with money no matter who we ended up with.
“For Anheuser-Busch, it was about core values for me. I’m at a point in my life and I’m at a point in my career where nothing is just about money anymore.”
UFC Builds On Partnerships in the Middle East with Huge Site Fees
Site fees — money paid to a promotion like the UFC for holding an event in a certain city, arena, or otherwise — have become a huge business in recent years. WWE — the other half of TKO Group Holdings with the UFC — earns $ 100 million annually to take two events to Saudi Arabia, and now the MMA promotion has started to see similar results.
In October, the UFC announced an extension of an existing relationship with the Department of Culture and Tourism in Abu Dhabi that will see live events continuing to land there through 2028. The UFC has formally partnered with Abu Dhabi since 2019, with at least one pay-per-view card landing there per year.
Site fees in Abu Dhabi typically earn the UFC around $ 25 million per event, per TKO Group Holdings president Mark Shapiro.
One massive addition to the UFC’s portfolio, which was also announced in October, will be taking a card to Saudi Arabia for the first time in March 2024. Shapiro later revealed that the UFC would earn “roughly $ 20 million” for the first ever UFC Fight Night card in Saudi Arabia.
Those are staggering numbers, and demonstrates why the UFC continues to grow and expand its relationships in the Middle East.
PFL Gets a Bargain Basement Deal to Acquire Bellator
Photo By Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile for Collision via Getty ImagesDonn Davis
Bellator’s sale felt like a foregone conclusion in 2023 as parent company Paramount sought to dump red tape off its books, which included the long-running MMA promotion. Rumors began swirling months ago that deals were being negotiated that would potentially value Bellator at $ 500 million, and then other numbers started getting thrown around like $ 100 million.
It turns out the actual cash that traded hands when the PFL finally closed a deal to acquire Bellator from Paramount was zero. Nothing. Not a dime.
“This was a stock deal, not a cash deal,” PFL founder Donn Davis told MMA Fighting after the sale closed in November. “They’re a small, minority owner going forward.”
Now it’s easy to point to that deal and say, ‘Wow, PFL really got one over on Paramount,’ but that’s not exactly the case. You have to remember that Bellator wasn’t likely producing any serious revenue, much less turning a profit for Paramount, so dumping the promotion off its books to somebody else really just saves them money in the long run.
PFL now assumes Bellator’s debts, which means the entire fighter roster and the contracts that come along with it. Over time, PFL will undoubtedly look to trim that roster. Sadly, that’s bad news for the fighters, but it will be done as a cost-cutting measure to ideally transform this merger into a profitable company.
PFL Secures Huge Influx of Funding from Saudi Arabia
Another major story involving PFL in 2023 came from the news that SRJ Sports Investment — a branch of the Saudi Arabia sovereign wealth fund — invested $ 100 million into the MMA promotion. As a result, SRJ retains an ownership share in the PFL.
Part of the deal includes PFL taking events to Saudi Arabia, including its “super fight” series on pay-per-view. PFL MENA will also launch in the near future, which will develop prospects and put on fight cards featuring fighters from the Middle East and North Africa region.
The $ 100 million investment will certainly help the PFL continue to grow in 2024, especially now that the company’s roster has almost tripled overnight with the Bellator acquisition.
PFL Re-Ups with ESPN
One more PFL story that deserved some attention in 2023 was the broadcast rights deal to stay with ESPN on a new multi-year contract.
PFL already aired events on ESPN, but this new deal will continue the partnership moving forward and keep ESPN+ as one of the pay-per-view distributors for future PFL “super fight” cards.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, so it’s tough to know how much ESPN paid to keep the PFL.
But despite the Saudi investment and ESPN deal, as far as PFL serving as competition to the UFC, the higher ups at TKO Group Holdings don’t seem to be losing any sleep.
“The investment that SRJ made in PFL, we look to our advantage,” Shapiro said in November. “We have no issue with Bellator, PFL, name your league. Competition is good.
“Not only do we have over 600 fighters, we have the premiere fighters. Ultimately you’re trying to get to the UFC, which is akin to the XFL trying to ultimately get their players into the NFL. That’s what we are. Those are pipeline and feeder properties. In fact, we’re supportive of [PFL] being on ESPN. PFL’s been on ESPN. We were totally supportive of that deal and the Saudi experience should prove out well for us.”
OnlyFans Continues to Drive Profits for Fighters
BKFC
This is an interesting twist when it comes to the business of MMA and combat sports in 2023, because OnlyFans — the subscription-based website where fans can pay a fee to see exclusive photos and videos, and interact with users — has become a huge part of the sponsorship model for the fight industry.
When ex-UFC fighter and current BKFC talent Bec Rawlings first joined the site during the global pandemic, she fielded a ton of questions about whether or not she was becoming a porn star thanks to OnlyFans being best known for adult-related content. Rawlings not only defended her decision to join OnlyFans, but she attributed her ability to survive the pandemic largely to the profits she made from selling subscriptions to users.
Fast forward three years later and fighters like Kevin Holland, who orchestrated the first sponsorship with the brand, has his own dedicated OnlyFans page. Even Stipe Miocic — the longest-reigning heavyweight champion in UFC history — has his own OnlyFans page where he breaks news about his fight schedule.
The PFL even had an OnlyFans sponsorship displayed on the canvas during the promotion’s championship card in November.
UFC fighter Ailin Perez revealed after her most recent win that she earned more than $ 30,000 from OnlyFans after a viral celebration got a lot of attention. Perez said that the money she made from OnlyFans was at least $ 6,000 more than she made by beating Lucie Pudilova on the card.
Sources speaking on the condition of anonymity told MMA Fighting that fighters joining the platform on a sponsorship deal can sometimes earn north of $ 100,000 with OnlyFans.
Of course, the biggest success story continues to be former UFC fighter Paige VanZant, who revealed that she earned more money on one day from OnlyFans than she did during her entire career with the UFC. She previously told MMA Fighting back in 2022 that she earned enough from OnlyFans that she could retire immediately and never worry about money again — and the same would go for any children she might have one day in the future with fighter husband Austin Vanderford.
Just recently, VanZant finished construction on a new house she built in Florida while also launching her own podcast. VanZant definitely still plans on fighting again, but OnlyFans has afforded her a lifestyle and a level of success that the UFC never did.
There’s no telling how much money VanZant earned from OnlyFans in 2023, but it’s safe to assume it’s at least seven figures.
One Last Thing on BKFC
OK, BKFC is not MMA, so it doesn’t fully fit into this model for 2023, but it must be mentioned that the bare-knuckle outfit enjoyed another great year built on the back of Mike Perry becoming one of the biggest stars in combat sports. A pair of events — BKFC 41 in April and BKFC 56 in Utah — both drew huge crowds, while also earning solid sales on pay-per-views based on everything that’s been reported.
Because BKFC is a private company, there’s no way to know for certain about the financial health of the promotion, but it certainly seems like people are interested in bare-knuckle fighting. The recent card headlined by Perry against ex-UFC champion Eddie Alvarez sold more than 8,000 tickets, which is a feat no MMA organization outside of the UFC can boast.
BKFC president David Feldman later revealed that BKFC 56 sold around 100,000 pay-per-views, which is an impressive figure, although he expected much higher. Sadly, the promotion was plagued by illegal streams, which he said found 1.3 million unique IP addresses watching the event.
That’s a huge amount of fans tuning into BKFC, but unfortunately the promotion doesn’t benefit financially from most of them.
That being said, the fact that BKFC has even made it to 56 events is an impressive accomplishment, and with California recently voting to sanction bare-knuckle fighting in the state, that will open up an even bigger market for the promotion in 2024.
With 43 total Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) events throughout 2023 — on top of all of the other promotions such as Bellator MMA, Professional Fighter’s League (PFL), ONE Championship and Bareknuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) — combat sports fans have probably forgotten about many of the wild moments that happened throughout the year.
From knockouts, post-fight interviews to funny in-cage spots, or maybe you’re a hardcore mixed martial arts (MMA) freak and remember everything.
Well, either way, we got you covered.
In part two of UFC 2023 “Rewind,” which runs from UFC 287 (April 8, 2023) through UFC Jacksonville (June 24, 2023), we look back at some of the most memorable moments from that specific event timeline, including “The Last Stylebender” exacting the ultimate revenge, a wild Octagon debut, a brain-touching eye poke and so much more.
PART ONE | PART TWO | PART THREE | PART FOUR
Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images
UFC 287: Pereira vs. Adesanya 2
April 8, 2023 Miami, Fla. Full Results
It is tough not to go with Adesanya’s terrific knockout of Alex Pereira to regain his Middleweight championship and his iconic celebration, but I’m going with Raul Rosas Jr.’s upset loss. The 18-year-old phenom had an absurd amount of hype leading up to this fight, but he can into Christian Rodriguez (who is very good). After a first round that saw Rosas Jr. dominate his opponent, he gassed out and Rodriguez took over, winning a unanimous decision.
Christian Rodriguez defeats Raul Rosas Jr via UD at UFC 287
Raul went 100mph from the bell and gassed out. Rodriguez humbled him pic.twitter.com/Odth9f4NVY
— The Octagon Obsessed (@octagonobsessed) April 9, 2023
Photo by Matt Davies/PxImages/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
UFC Kansas City: Holloway vs. Allen
April 15, 2023 Kansas City, Mo. Full Results
UFC returned to Kansas City, Mo., for a fun card, but two back-to-back fake retirements took the wind out of the event up until that point.
First, Bill Algeo did it and then cut a “heel” promo in which he took shots at the Kansas City crowd. “Listen, I would never retire in a dump like Kansas City,” Algeo said. “I look around here, and all I see is a bunch of Croc-wearing,’ Uber Eats drivin,’ Bud Light drinkin’ … sons of guns. I ain’t never retiring! Woo!”
Bill Algeo isn’t going anywhere #UFCKansasCity pic.twitter.com/wPgbvzWZRR
— UFC (@ufc) April 16, 2023
Then, Clay Guida, 42, faked his retirement after he lost to Rafa Garcia, even taking off his gloves. He didn’t. Instead, “The Carpenter” wished “Happy Birthday” to his mother.
Clay really had us in the first half #UFCKansasCity pic.twitter.com/g6fuTwkaAb
— UFC (@ufc) April 16, 2023
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
UFC Vegas 71: Pavlovich vs. Blaydes
April 22, 2023 UFC Apex, Las Vegas Full Results
In the “Featured bout” of the night, Bobby Green and Jared Gordon fought, but it ended in a “No Contest” as Green and Gordon clashed heads, which led to Green meaninglessly knocking out Gordon.
Bobby Green and Jared Gordon’s fight ends in a No Contest after an accidental clash of heads in the 1st at UFC Vegas 71
Bobby was not happy at all about the ruling
(@espnmma) pic.twitter.com/mxqeJ78ORr
— The Octagon Obsessed (@octagonobsessed) April 23, 2023
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
UFC Vegas 72: Song vs. Simon
April 29, 2023 UFC Apex, Las Vegas Full Results
It was quite the year for Marcus McGhee, who was having trouble finding fights on the regional scene at the start of the year. He got the call on three days’ notice to fight Journey Newson … and he smoked him via rear-naked choke.
McGhee is name to watch in 2024.
Marcus McGhee defeats Journey Newson via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in the 2nd at UFC Vegas 72
Marcus took this fight on 3 days notice
(@espnmma) pic.twitter.com/D7fS9GpO3x
— The Octagon Obsessed (@octagonobsessed) April 30, 2023
UFC 288: Sterling vs. Cejudo
May 6, 2023 Newark, NJ Full Results
Speaking of Octagon debuts and fighters who had an incredible year, Diego Lopes turned heads in his debut, too … even in a loss. Indeed, he stepped up on short notice to fight Featherweight boogeyman, Movsar Evloev, and gave him everything he could handle.
In fact, Lopes had Evloev in dangerous submission attempts and even rocked him on the feet. The Brazilian fighter even got his win money from the UFC head honcho.
pic.twitter.com/Pso2ik3Alg
— MMABoxing (@mmaboxing78) May 7, 2023
Photo by Matt Davies/PxImages/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
UFC Charlotte: Rozenstruik vs. Almeida
May 13, 2023 Charlotte, N.C. Full Results
The fourth ABC show had many fabulous finishes; however, do you remember the s—t show that was Ji Yeon Kim and Mandy Bohm? Well, it was so bad that both women fighters were eventually released.
Bohm won a split technical decision because Kim hit her with an illegal knee and was deducted a second point. She also lost a point in round two for striking Bohm after the bell.
Mandy Bohm wins by split decision following two point deductions for Ji Yeon Kim, including an unintentional foul. #UFCCharlotte pic.twitter.com/hXv126dPkp
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 13, 2023
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
UFC Vegas 73: Dern vs. Hill
May 20, 2023 UFC Apex, Las Vegas Full Results
Joaquin Buckley got back into the win column against Andre Fialho in his Welterweight debut, knocking him out in the second round with a head kick (watch highlights).
After his win, he dumped an entire bottle of PRIME on his head, causing a mess. While it seemed clever at the moment, Buckley apologized after the fight because it caused the crew to delay the next fight due to cleanup (UFC brass probably yelled at him, too).
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
UFC Vegas 74: Kara-France vs. Albazi
June 3, 2023 UFC Apex, Las Vegas Full Results
If you’re making an Octagon debut against Jim Miller, chances are you might get knocked out — it’s that simple. And that is precisely what happened to Jesse Butler, who got brutally slept in 23 seconds by the 40-year-old legend.
QUICK WORK FOR JIM MILLER #UFCVegas74 pic.twitter.com/JQV7QJCNn5
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) June 4, 2023
Photo by Jordan Jones/Getty Images
UFC 289: Nunes vs. Aldana
June 10, 2023 Vancouver, Canada Full Results
On a lackluster pay-per-view (PPV) — after which Amanda Nunes retired — Charles Oliveira snapped Beneil Dariush’s eight-fight win streak in less than one round via technical knockout (watch highlights). Oliveira also picked up his first win in Canada.
CHARLES OLIVEIRA FINISHES BENEIL DARIUSH
THE CHAMPION HAS A NAME pic.twitter.com/opzXk0yTSB
— Charles Oliveira Stan (@MMA_Burner941) June 11, 2023
UFC Vegas 75: Vettori vs. Cannonier
June 17, 2023 UFC Apex, Las Vegas Full Results
Manuel Torres holds a 93 percent finish rate with 13 first round finishes, and he added to that against Nikolas Motta when he brutally knocked him out with an elbow in less than two minutes.
Manuel “El Loco” Torres landed on the button against Nikolas Motta #UFCVegas75 pic.twitter.com/xoO8MNI08Q
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) June 18, 2023
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC
UFC Jacksonville: Emmett vs. Topuria
June 24, 2023 Jacksonville, Fla. Full Results
In the featured bout of the fifth ABC card, Austen Lane poked Justin Tafa in the eye, basically tickling the Heavyweight’s brain. The fight was ruled a “No Contest” and the pair were eventually rebooked for UFC 293 … and Tafa got even.
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