UFC fan-favorite Derrick Lewis makes the main event walk once again this Saturday at UFC St. Louis, and does so against a surprising opponent in Rodrigo Nascimento. Will Lewis end the night with another memorable celebration, or will the emerging Nascimento play spoiler?
MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck, Jed Meshew, and Alexander K. Lee preview this weekend’s UFC Fight Night event, as well as the main event matchup between Lewis and Nascimento. Additionally, the panel discuss the co-main event matchup between surging contender Joaquin Buckley and the dangerous Nursulton Ruziboev, if Buckley has the most to lose on the entire card, other matchups that might be flying under the radar, plus answer viewer questions at the end.
Catch the UFC St. Louis preview show above. An audio-only version of the show can be found below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.
Jon Jones remains steadfast in his pursuit of a title fight defense against Stipe Miocic in his immediate return to the UFC, claiming a potential bout with Tom Aspinall has no appeal to him right now – labelling the current interim gold holder a “hype train”.
Jones, a current heavyweight champion and former two-time light heavyweight titleholder, has been out of action since March of last year, headlining UFC 285 in his hiatus-snapping return.
Mandatory Credit: Jeff Bottari – Zuffa LLC
Winning vacant heavyweight spoils, Rochester native, Jones turned in a dominant first round guillotine choke submission win over former interim champion, Ciryl Gane.
And ruled from a UFC 295 comeback at Madison Square Garden at the end of last year, Jones suffered a pectoral tendon tear, resulting in the introduction of an interim title.
Winning that gold in a co-main event slot, the above-mentioned, Aspinall made light work of Sergei Pavlovich – finishing the Russian with a first round knockout win.
Mandatory Credit: Chris Unger – Zuffa LLC
Jon Jones unsure on fight with Tom Aspinall
And staking his claim continually for a title unification fight with Jones – ultimately to no avail ahead of an expected UFC 304 return in July, Aspinall has been labelled a “hype train” by the former, who questioned why he should fight him at all.
Mandatory Credit: Chris Graythen
“I’m in the middle of a pretty clear decision,” Jon Jones posted on his official X account. “Stick to exact and original plans, and fight the man with all the accolades or completely disregard all of the Stipe training I’ve put in and fight another potential hype train that may not even be around in three years.”
I’m in the middle of a pretty clear decision… stick to exact and original plans, and fight the man with all the accolades. Or, completely disregard all of the Stipe training I’ve put in and fight another potential hype train that may not even be around in three years. I am not…
— BONY (@JonnyBones) May 9, 2024
“I am not changing my plans for anyone,’ Jon Jones continued. “Stipe is over there as the best heavyweight ever, working his a** off. I’m gonna give that man what he wants, and I’m going to claim another head. Whatever comes next comes next.”
Who would win in a fight: Jon Jones or Tom Aspinall?
Khamzat Chimaev looks to cement his first UFC title shot when he faces his stiffest test to date against former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in a five-round headliner in June. “Borz” and “The Reaper” share the promotion’s latest event poster.
Whittaker and Chimaev meet in the main event of UFC Saudi Arabia, which takes place June 22 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh. Check out the official UFC Saudi Arabia poster below.
Whittaker vs Chimaev Live From The Kingdom!
Your #UFCSaudiArabia poster has just landed!@riyadhseason pic.twitter.com/2FfGkoo1i4
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) May 10, 2024
When UFC CEO Dana White announced the bout, he stated that the winner will fight for the 185-pound title in their next appearance. As history shows, that’s not always set in stone — most notably with Chimaev’s recent win over Kamaru Usman at UFC 294, which was also announced as a No. 1 contender fight before the event this past October. Chimaev defeated Usman via majority decision in his return to middleweight to improve his pro record to 13-0.
Whittaker bounced back from a stoppage loss to now-champ Dricus du Plessis at UFC 290 with a unanimous decision win over Paulo Costa at February’s UFC 298 event.
UFC Saudi Arabia also features a pivotal fight in the heavyweight division between recent interim title challenger Sergei Pavlovich and Alexander Volkov.
UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones has been sidelined since tearing a pectoral tendon while preparing to take on former two-time titleholder Stipe Miocic last November. Recovered enough to be back in the gym training, Jones is expected to meet Miocic later this year.
If he wins, Jones will have choices to make. He could call it a career and walk away. He could take on interim champion Tom Aspinall in a unification bout, or he could face light heavyweight titleholder Alex Pereira in a super fight.
Last week, Jones wrote on social media that a fight against Pereira would be ‘massive’ and ‘the biggest fight in MMA history.’ On Thursday, Jones reiterated that he’s fighting Miocic in his return but was unsure who he’ll face after that.
“I’m in the middle of a pretty clear decision… stick to exact and original plans, and fight the man with all the accolades. Or, completely disregard all of the Stipe training I’ve put in and fight another potential hype train that may not even be around in three years,” Jones wrote on X. “I am not changing my plans for anyone. Stipe is over there as the best heavyweight ever working his ass off. I’m gonna give that man what he wants, and I’m going to claim another head. Whatever comes next comes next.”
I’m in the middle of a pretty clear decision… stick to exact and original plans, and fight the man with all the accolades. Or, completely disregard all of the Stipe training I’ve put in and fight another potential hype train that may not even be around in three years. I am not…
— BONY (@JonnyBones) May 9, 2024
In follow up posts, Jones targeted Aspinall and ‘UK fans.’ He also didn’t think there needed to be an interim title created.
“UFC is a brilliant company, did what they had to do to save the event. But I do agree with you, it definitely confused a bunch of UK fans, got them entitled thinking their boy really is the champion. It reminds me of when DC was the “champion” during my absence,” Jones replied to a comment criticizing the creation of interim champion.
UFC is a brilliant company, did what they had to do to save the event. But I do agree with you, it definitely confused a bunch of UK fans, got them entitled thinking their boy really is the champion. It reminds me of when DC was the “champion” during my absence. https://t.co/UXbx7LMboG
— BONY (@JonnyBones) May 9, 2024
“I was talking about retirement after Stipe way before there was an intern champion announced. I would literally be in the same exact position if Sergei would had one (won),” Jones wrote in another post. “I love how the UK have convinced themselves I’m afraid of their intern champion, opens me up to a whole new fan base. They all know who the actual champion is.”
Photo by Christopher Colon/Pximages/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Demetrious Johnson didn’t make a king’s ransom from the EA UFC games, but he’s happy with what he received.
A seemingly ever-present topic of conversation in the MMA world is the topic of fighter pay in the UFC. But while that conversation primarily focuses on fighters’ show money, win money, bonuses, and pay-per-view points, there are other instances that don’t immediately jump to mind, like likeness rights. And while UFC is primarily a fight promotion, the company also has a longstanding licensing deal with EA Games to produce the UFC video game series. So how does that work for the fighters?
Well, Johnson recently described the entire thing on his YouTube channel.
“One day I’m at home, I’m playing video games, and I get an email stating that, ‘Hey, since your likeness is being used a lot in the video game, we are sending you a check,’” Johnson said. “Now, the very first check I got for being in the UFC video game was $ 25,000. A lot of you guys are like, ‘That was it?’ Guys, think about this, $ 25,000 to just be in a video game. I don’t think Ryu [or] Ken has ever gotten a check for $ 25,000. [It’s] $ 25,000 for not getting punched in the face, $ 25,000 for just being in a video game because you people love using me as a character. So I was ecstatic.
“How do they dictate how much money you’re going to get paid? I can’t dictate it. You guys actually dictate how much I get paid by how often you guys use me in the game. When you log onto your game, let’s say you’re playing offline mode or you’re playing online mode, each character you pick, it does a little tick and sends the data to the mainframe computer. That’s how they keep track of it. … They do it for all the games out there because they want to see what characters are being played the most and what game modes you like the most. They’re always tracking your data and keeping all the analytics.
“I think that’s fair. It’s based on your popularity in the game. So if everybody and their mom keeps playing me, I will get a bigger check.”
Johnson is widely considered to be one of the greatest fighters in UFC history, so it’s not surprising that he’s a popular character choice for fans. In fact, Johnson was so popular that he also served as the cover athlete for a specialty edition of EA UFC 3, which “Mighty Mouse” explained came with a little extra money for him.
“So let’s fast forward: The next one that came out was UFC 3, and for this bad boy, the next check that I ended up getting was $ 12,500,” Johnson said. “Now, it’s a little bit lower, but I was OK with that because the timeframe of the checks was coming every year or quarter. I wasn’t too worried about it, because once again, it’s free money just coming to me.
“Now, after I did something, after my Ray Borg fight, they offered me the opportunity to be on the front cover. That’s when they came out with the Icon Edition with me on the front. … So in order for me to be on the cover, I signed an agreement to be on the front cover and with me signing, I got a whopping $ 10,000 — $ 10,000 to be on the front cover and it’s pretty dope. I love every bit of it.”
There are currently five iterations of the EA Sports UFC titles, with the most recent released this past October. Johnson has been in all of them aside from the first, even after leaving the promotion in 2018. Johnson said he has yet to receive his check from the latest edition, but for the three version of the game he has been in, including his time as a cover athlete, “Mighty Mouse” revealed his grand total of payouts comes to just under $ 75,000.
“Let’s fast forward: UFC 4 comes out,” Johnson said. “I leave the UFC, I’m not part of the company anymore, but my character is still in the game and you guys are playing as my character. The next check I get in the mail is another whopping $ 25,000. For being in a game! And it’s absolutely amazing, because to me, it’s something where your likeness is being used, and I think it’s cool where the UFC or EA keeps on paying the athletes for their likeness, and that people are using me.
“Now, after all that, from the first iteration of me being in the game in 2014 all the way to 2024, the total money I have made is a whopping $ 72,500. I think it’s absolutely amazing for me to make that type of money without getting punched in the face.
“Now, I have not gotten a check yet for UFC 5, which, I’m in the game. … Obviously, when you guys use me as a character and my popularity is still good, I will also receive another check from EA or Zuffa or whoever the hell is in charge of the UFC now. So I think it’s pretty cool.”
Likeness rights in sports video games can be wide-ranging. For instance, the NFL Players Association struck a deal with the Madden franchise that reportedly paid the players $ 500 million over a five-year extension, while the NBA 2K deal was reportedly for $ 1.1 billion over seven years. Conversely, EA Sports College Football 25 will reportedly only offer athletes featured in the game $ 600 and a copy of the game.
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