Following yesterday’s UFC On ABC 7 event in Abu Dhabi the recipients of the $50,000 bonus awards were announced.
Earning ‘Fight Of The Night’ honors was a main card scrap between Shara Magomedov and Michal Oleksiejczuk that went all three rounds.
The fight saw Oleksiejczuk constantly pressing forward looking to land his heavy hands, but that proved to be easier said than done against the dynamic Magomedov, who proved to be adept at striking with all eight limbs despite often being on the back foot. Magomedov never seemed to tire despite his energetic offense and movement, while to his credit Oleksiejczuk never stopped trying to make something happen to change the course of the fight. Nevertheless, the outcome was a clear unanimous decision victory for Magomedov (30-27 x2, 29-28).
One of two ‘Performance Of The Night’ bonuses was handed to Joel Alvarez, whose major height and reach advantage, together with his clean, accurate striking proved to be too much for Elves Brenner. Brenner is known for his toughness and that helped him withstand some punishment, but by the third round his attempts to become more aggressive in search of a finish cost him as he was rocked by Alvarez and then sent to the mat after a barrage of knees from the clinch, which swiftly led to a TKO stoppage inside the final 90 seconds of the fight.
Also earning a performance bonus was Azamat Murzakanov who had a good first round against Alonzo Menifield, but was then hurt in the second before quickly turning things around with a big uppercut followed by two more heavy punches behind it that sent his opponent to the canvas before sealing the deal with ground-and-pound.
