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USA Today
13-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
UFC Fight Night 256 pre-event facts: Melquizael Costa first to three fights in 2025
UFC Fight Night 256 pre-event facts: Melquizael Costa first to three fights in 2025 The second of three UFC events in May goes down Saturday with UFC Fight Night 256 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The entire card streams on ESPN+. Former title challenger Gilbert Burns (22-8 MMA, 15-8 UFC) returns to competition in attempt to snap a three-fight losing skid when he takes on undefeated surging contender Michael Morales (17-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) in a five-round welterweight bout. Go inside the numbers behind UFC Fight Night 256 below with MMA Junkie's pre-event facts. Gilbert Burns vs. Michael Morales Burns' three-fight losing skid is the longest of his career. He hasn't earned a victory since April 2023. Burns is 3-5 in his past eight fights dating back to February 2021. Burns is 7-5 since he returned to the welterweight division in August 2019. Burns' three armbar submission victories in UFC competition are tied for third-most in company history behind Demetrious Johnson (four) and Royce Gracie (four). Morales' five-fight UFC winning streak at welterweight is the fourth-longest active streak in the division behind Jack Della Maddalena (eight), Shavkat Rakhmonov (seven) and Joaquin Buckley (six). Morales has earned 13 of his 17 career victories by stoppage. Morales defends 91.3 percent of all opponent takedown attempts in UFC welterweight competition, the second-best rate in divisional history behind Kamaru Usman (97.3 percent). Paul Craig vs. Rodolfo Bellato Paul Craig (17-9-1 MMA, 9-9-1 UFC) returns to the light heavyweight division after a four-fight stint at middleweight where he went 1-3. Craig's three-fight losing skid is the longest of his career. He hasn't earned a victory since July 2023. Craig's six submission victories in UFC light heavyweight competition are second-most in divisional history behind Glover Teixeira (seven). Craig's four submission victories by triangle choke are the most in UFC history. Craig's victory at 4:59 of Round 3 at UFC Fight Night 127 is the latest submission in a three-round UFC fight. Julian Erosa vs. Melquizael Costa Julian Erosa (30-11 MMA, 9-7 UFC) is 8-3 since he returned to the UFC for a third stint in June 2020. Erosa has earned 25 of his 30 career victories by stoppage. Erosa's average fight time of 6:45 in UFC featherweight competition is shortest among active fighters in the weight class. Melquizael Costa (23-7 MMA, 4-2 UFC) becomes the first fighter to make three UFC appearances in 2025. He earned victories at UFC Fight Night 252 on Feb. 22 and UFC on ESPN 64 on March 29. Thiago Moises vs. Jared Gordon Thiago Moises (19-8 MMA, 8-6 UFC) has earned one of 17 stoppage victories in UFC history stemming from leg kicks. He accomplished the feat at UFC Fight Night 239. Nursulton Ruziboev vs. Dustin Stoltzfus Nursulton Ruziboev (35-9-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) has earned 33 of his 35 career victories by stoppage. Luana Pinheiro vs. Tecia Pennington Luana Pinheiro's (11-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC) three-fight losing skid is the longest of her career. She hasn't earned a victory since April 2023. Tecia Pennington's (14-7 MMA, 10-7 UFC) competes in her 18th UFC strawweight bout, tied for the second-most appearances in divisional history behind Angela Hill (26). Pennington's 10 victories in UFC strawweight competition are tied for second-most in divisional history behind Hill (12). Pennington has earned 12 of her 14 career victories by decision. Denise Gomes vs. Elise Reed Elise Reed (8-4 MMA, 4-4 UFC) has alternated wins and losses over her past nine fights. She was victorious in her most recent bout. UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on X @MJCflipdascript.
USA Today
09-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Eric Del Fierro reflects on former UFC champion Dominick Cruz's mindset
Eric Del Fierro reflects on former UFC champion Dominick Cruz's mindset Eric Del Fierro experienced all of former UFC champion Dominick Cruz's ebbs and flows. Cruz (24-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) is largely responsible for putting the lower weight classes on the MMA map. The former WEC and UFC champion is widely considered one of the greatest bantamweights of all time. An injury riddled career prevented Cruz from having a long title reign, but the Alliance MMA standout was able to defy the odds on numerous occasions throughout his career. After defending his UFC bantamweight title with a win over Demetrious Johnson in October 2011, Cruz eventually vacated his belt due to injuries, which required multiple surgeries. He then returned from a three-year layoff to finish Takeya Mizugaki in the first round at UFC 278. Injuries struck Cruz again as he was forced into another layoff, but that never deterred him. He returned from a 16-month layoff to dethrone T.J. Dillashaw and become a two-time UFC bantamweight champion in January 2016. His head coach, Del Fierro, was by his side for the incredible moment. "He's always been a phenomenal athlete," Del Fierro told MMA Junkie Radio of Cruz. "I think Dominick's biggest strength has always been his mindset. He's never let the naysayers or the crowd influence who shows up to fight. Like any athlete, you have doubts. You have fears. I think his mindset was he was able to overcome all those injuries and get through it and still show up to fight and still win and be at the top of the game for so many years. I think now transitioning into something else, he's still embracing that mindset and willing to pass that onto up-and-coming fighters as well." Cruz spent the second half of his career as a UFC commentator and will continue behind the desk after announcing his retirement in February. The 40-year-old decided it was time to call it a career after being forced to pull out of February's UFC Fight Night 252 matchup against Rob Font once again due to injury. Cruz's final fight was in August 2022 when he was knocked out by a Marlon Vera head kick in their main event.
USA Today
10-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
UFC 314's Jim Miller all for fight-ending eye pokes resulting in disqualification losses
MIAMI – Jim Miller is on board with big penalizations for eye pokes. Eye pokes have caused many controversial moments in the UFC as of late, most recently when Henry Cejudo was on the receiving end of a fight-ending one against Song Yadong in the UFC Fight Night 252 headliner. Cejudo was upset with referee Jason Herzog's handling of the situation, which resulted in a loss on his record. Cejudo has struggled with his vision since, and plans on competing only one more time before retiring. Miller (38-18 MMA, 27-17 UFC), who takes on Chase Hooper (15-3-1 MMA, 7-3 UFC) on Saturday's UFC 314 prelims from Kaseya Center (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+), was asked if he'd be OK for fight-ending eye pokes to result in disqualification losses. Miller wants to see them treated as a foul. 'Yeah I would – I would,' Miller told MMA Junkie and other reporters Wednesday at UFC 314 media day. 'And honestly if that was the case, if you knew that you were going to get disqualified for a poke, I guarantee that you're going to see a dramatic drop in the amount of pokes that you see. Accidents do happen. It does happen.' Miller admits he's been guilty of committing eye pokes himself, and would accept getting disqualified. 'I have been close to poking people in the eye in grappling situations, and when I fought Donald Cerrone the first time, he hurt me to the body in the very first exchange of that fight,' Miller said. 'I remember exactly where we were in the octagon, he had me against the cage in his corner, and I tried to shove him away because I wanted some f*cking space, and I felt my finger go into his eye a little bit, and he hit me really, really hard right after that. 'Had the ref stopped the fight for it – hey man, I'm a big boy. I'm a grown man. It was my f*ck up. That's why it happened. I was hurt, I didn't want to be in that situation, and if we're going to have rules, we should follow them. Honestly, I do believe that if we're going to start actually treating the foul like a foul, then it should be something that causes a disqualification.' For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie's event hub for UFC 314.
USA Today
08-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Jon Anik isn't too sure about Bryce Mitchell vs. Jean Silva odds heading into UFC 314
Jon Anik doesn't think the betting odds accurately reflect the Bryce Mitchell vs. Jean Silva matchup. Mitchell (17-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) is a moderate underdog against rising featherweight contender Silva (15-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) on Saturday's UFC 314 main card at Kaseya Center in Miami. Mitchell turned plenty of fans against him after making controversial pro-Adolf Hitler comments, which Silva fully capitalized on during the UFC 314 pre-fight press conference last month. But Anik said people seem to forget Mitchell's strength of schedule in the UFC, which includes wins over Edson Barboza and Dan Ige. 'Whether he's lifting weights in blue jeans and boots or not even wearing any clothes, he's putting in the work,' Anik told MMA Junkie of Mitchell. 'He's one of the hardest workers in the game. You've always seen him go to great lengths to travel and train with high level training partners. I just think Bryce Mitchell's commitment in totality to martial arts is what gets lost in all of this. I don't have to tell you about his ground fighting exploits. Outstanding submission guy, a really great ground striker. He has heart, he has toughness, fight IQ, durability. 'He's got a little of different things. The betting line would suggest to you, with Jean Silva at -325, that he's going to need every bit of them to come through as a +260 underdog, but I do believe based upon the narrative and some of what he has said, we are losing sight of just the mixed martial arts matchup. You can count me among the surprised, despite The Fighting Nerds success and Jean Silva's ability to in all phases and his death-touch power, -325 against a guy as tried and tested in the UFC as Mitchell? I just don't see.' Silva has kicked off his octagon tenure with four stoppage victories, most recently a first-round Performance of the Night TKO over Melsik Baghdasaryan at UFC Fight Night 252 in February. He called out Mitchell after the win and got his wish. For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie's event hub for UFC 314.
USA Today
06-03-2025
- Business
- USA Today
UFC Fight Night 252 payouts: Nine fighters receive six-figures for Seattle battles
Nine fighters walked away from the UFC's recent return to Seattle with six-figure disclosed payouts, according to the Washington State Department of Licensing (WSDOL), which oversaw the event. UFC Fight Night 252 took place Feb. 22 at Climate Pledge Arena and featured 12 bouts. Main event competitors Song Yadong and Henry Cejudo joined Anthony Hernandez, Brendan Allen, Rob Font, Alonzo Menifield, Ion Cutelaba, Andre Fili, and Ricky Simon as the fighters who received six-figures. Thursday, MMA Junkie acquired state documents of the disclosed payouts from WSDOL, which can be seen below. Forbes was first to report the payouts Wednesday. It's important to note the amounts are strictly the disclosed amounts for show and win. They do not include side letter payments, sponsorships, or discretionary/performance bonuses. Additionally, they do not include taxes or miscellaneous deductions. Song Yadong: $320,000 (includes $160,000 win bonus) Henry Cejudo: $150,000 Anthony Hernandez: $144,000 (includes $72,000 win bonus) Brendan Allen: $210,000 Rob Font: $320,000 (includes $160,000 win bonus) Jean Matsumoto: $26,000 Jean Silva: $90,000 (includes $45,000 win bonus) Melsik Baghdasaryan: $35,000 Alonzo Menifield: $240,000 (includes $120,000 win bonus) Julius Walker: $12,000 Ion Cutelaba: $190,000 (includes $95,000 win bonus) Ibo Aslan: $35,000 Melquizael Costa: $48,000 (includes $24,000 win bonus) Andre Fili: $110,000 Mansur Abdul-Malik: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus) Nick Klein: $10,000 Ricky Simon: $160,000 (includes $80,000 win bonus) Javid Basharat: $30,000 Austin Vanderford: $30,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus) Nikolay Veretennikov: $12,000 Nursulton Ruziboev: $74,000 (includes $37,000 win bonus) Eric McConico: $12,000 Modestas Bukauskas: $96,000 (includes $48,000 win bonus) Raffael Cerqueira: $10,000 For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie's event hub for UFC Fight Night 252.
