- Natan Schulte issued the following statement on Twitter about being removed from the 2023 PFL Playoffs:
“I am very unsatisfied with the decision that was taken by the PFL last night to favor Shane Burgos’ entry into the playoffs. You remember Francis Ngannou’s fight against Derrick Lewis. He didn’t throw six punches the whole fight and he wasn’t cut for his performance that night. So I ask you Francis Ngannou, since you protect the rights of the fighters, do you think this decision is correct?”
- Brian Butler of Sucker Punch Entertainment issued the following statement to MMA Fighting about the controversy surrounding Raush Manfio vs. Natan Schulte at 2023 PFL 6:
“To make a subjective decision like this from a promoter that stakes its claim in fighter advocacy is just a bad look, in my opinion. Judges make bad calls all the time with less repercussion. Raush and Natan are best friends and have been exclusive training partners for each other for years. Natan is the godfather of Raush’s daughter. To say they know each other’s styles, tricks and techniques inside and out is a gross understatement.
“Situations like bad style matchups and lackluster fights happen in this sport all the time but the unique thing about the PFL and the ‘tournament/point format’ is that it would sort itself out on its own in the end. Our client got half his pay and zero points to move forward in the tournament. This is distasteful and unnecessary.”
- MMA Junkie is reporting that the TUF 31 Finale fights will be a part of the UFC 292 card.
- 2023 PFL 6 fighter salaries (via MMA Fighting):
Olivier Aubin-Mercier: $100,000 — $50,000 to show, $50,000 to win
Anthony Romero: $15,000
Sadibou Sy: $100,000 — $50,000 to show, $50,000 to win
Shane Mitchell: $10,000
Shane Burgos: $100,000
Yamato Nishikawa: $18,000
Magomed Magomedkerimov: $100,000 — $50,000 to show, $50,000 to win
David Zawada: $20,000
Magomed Umalatov: $86,000 — $43,000 to show, $43,000 to win
Nayib Lopez: $16,000
Clay Collard: $62,000 — $31,000 to show, $31,000 to win
Stevie Ray: $50,000
Carlos Leal: $32,000 — $16,000 to show, $16,000 to win
Natan Schulte: $100,000 — $50,000 to show, $50,000 to win
Raush Manfio: $30,000
Bruno Miranda: $26,000 — $13,000 to show, $13,000 to win
Alex Martinez: $22,000
Solomon Renfro: $20,000 — $10,000 to show, $10,000 to win
Jarrah Al-Silawi: $50,000
Brahyam Zurcher: $19,000 — $9,500 to show, $9,500 to win
Mike Bardsley: $3,000
Abdullah Alkahtani: $40,000 — $20,000 to show, $20,000 to win
Lamar Brown: $3,000
- Daniel Cormier says Ilia Topuria is ready for a shot at the featherweight title:
“I’m OK with him going right into a title fight,” Cormier told ESPN (transcript via Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie). “I think he is that ready. This kid showed conditioning over 25 minutes, he showed an ability to compete everywhere, and he really did just dominate. I think that he matches up relatively well against all of them. The technical fight between him and Yair (Rodriguez) would be crazy, but then also to watch him fight the champion, (Alexander) Volkanovski, with their skill sets – fantastic fights across the board at 145.”
- MMA Fighting is reporting that James Gonzalez will replace Cris Lencioni against James Gallagher at Bellator 298.
- Arman Tsarukyan says he will be the one to unseat UFC Lightweight Champion Islam MakhachevL
“Just me can beat him in our division,” Tsarukyan told Lowkick MMA (transcript via Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie). “It’s my opinion. … It’s my dream fight. All my focus is to be a champion. That’s why I called him out. We’ll see. Maybe next year we’ll fight with each other. I want to see my improvements. I want to see my skills. That fight, I think (is) the most competitive fight for me.”
- Bellator officials recently announced that Peter Queally vs. Daniele Miceli, Ciaran Clarke vs. Przemyslaw Gorny, Darragh Kelly vs. Jelle Zeegers and Charlie Ward vs. Gregory Babene have been added to the Bellator 299 card.
- UFC/PFL veteran Stevie Ray has announced his retirement on Instagram:
“14 years of service done. Time to pass on my knowledge and experience. Going to try book some Seminars over the next few months July/Aug/Sep in the UK if you’d like me to do a seminar at your Gym give me a message.
I will now also be back full time coaching at my Gym @braveheartmma from Next Monday. Full MMA timetable again.”
- Chael Sonnen says Elon Musk vs. Mark Zuckerberg can bring in 25 million pay-per-view buys:
“You could for sure do 10 million-plus [pay-per-view buys],” Sonnen said on The MMA Hour. “But you could be closer to 20 and 25 [million pay-per-view buys], because what I would predict is both of their companies would start some kind of a digital arm. So all of a sudden, I believe that Twitter would be hosting pay-per-views, and I believe Facebook would, as well. Now you’re talking 25 million views here. That’s insane, what I just said. You could do that if the business shifted and changed a little bit. Sure you could.”
- 2023 PFL 6 medical suspensions (via MMA Fighting):
Olivier Aubin-Mercier: 7 days
Anthony Romero: 60-day mandatory suspension, indefinite suspension pending neurological clearance
Sadibou Sy: 14 days
Shane Mitchell: 45 days
Shane Burgos: 7 days
Yamato Nishikawa: 7 days
Magomed Magomedkerimov: 7 days
David Zawada: 30 days
Magomed Umalatov: 7 days
Nayib Lopez: 14 days
Clay Collard: 7 days
Stevie Ray: 30 days
Carlos Leal: 14 days
Dilano Taylor: 45 day mandatory suspension, indefinite suspension pending neurological clearance
Natan Schulte: 7 days
Raush Manfio: 7 days
Bruno Miranda: 7 days
Alex Martinez: 7 days
Solomon Renfro: 7 days
Jarrah Al-Silawi: 90 day mandatory suspension, indefinite suspension pending neurological clearance
Brahyam Zurcher: 7 days
Mike Bardsley: 30 days
Abdullah Alkahtani: 7 days
Lamar Brown: 7 days
