Former UFC Champion Returning To Action, Frank Mir On Fedor Emelianenko, UFC 220 Fighter Salaries

- Former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis returns to action at UFC 223, taking on Michael Chiesa in a featured bout. The fight has yet to be made official, as ESPN was the first to report it.

Pettis (20-7) has posted a 7-6 record overall inside the Octagon and is coming off a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier. The defeat dropped him to just 2-5 over his last seven fights.

Chiesa (14-3) is a former Ultimate Fighter winner, but he too was bested by Kevin Lee last year, suffering a submission loss to fall to 7-3 with the UFC.

UFC 223 takes place April 7 and features Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov for the lightweight title.

- Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir has waited years to test his skills against Fedor Emelianenko. This April, he'll finally get that chance, as the two meet in a quarterfinal of the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix.

"Damn, that's a tough first fight," Mir told MMAjunkie upon hearing of the matchup. "No joke, Fedor is still a phenomenal fighter. I know a lot of people don't have the eyes that I have, and they look at him and go, 'Well, look at his results.' And that's easy to say in our sport. Fedor is extremely good. He's still very quick. He hasn't lost his power in his punches."

Mir (18-11) hasn't fought in over two years, as he was suspended for taking a banned substance following a loss to Mark Hunt in the UFC. The 38-year-old is just 2-6 over his last eight.

Emelianenko (36-5) lost his Bellator debut to Matt Mitrione last year.

- Stipe Miocic topped the fighter salaries from the recent UFC 220 card, earning $600,000 for his victory over Francis Ngannou. Miocic defended his heavyweight title via decision from the TD Garden in Boston.

Ngannou and victorious UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier each earned $500,000, with Volkan Oezdemir – who lost to Cormier – picking up $350,000.

Below are the complete fighter salaries courtesy MMAjunkie from the Massachusetts Athletic Commission:

* Stipe Miocic $600,000 (no win bonus)

* Francis Ngannou $500,000

* Daniel Cormier $500,000 (no win bonus)

* Volkan Oezdemir $350,000

* Calvin Kattar $28,000 (includes $14,000 win bonus)

* Shane Burgos $22,000

* Gian Villante $100,000 (includes $50,000 win bonus)

* Francimar Barrosso $27,000

* Rob Font $60,000 (includes $30,000 win bonus)

* Thomas Almeida $36,000

* Kyle Bochniak $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus)

* Brandon Davis $10,000

* Abdul Razak Alhassan $40,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus)

* Sabah Homasi $12,000

* Dustin Ortiz $60,000 (includes $30,000 win bonus)

* Alexandre Pantoja $14,000

* Julio Arce $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)

* Dan Ige $10,000

* Enrique Barzola $42,000 (includes $21,000 win bonus)

* Matt Bessette $12,000

* Islam Makhachev $32,000 (includes $16,000 win bonus)

* Gleison Tibau $50,000