Following last night’s UFC 195 event in Las Vegas the recipients of the evening’s $50,000 bonus awards were announced.
Earning ‘Fight Of The Night’ honors was the thrilling main event title fight between Robbie Lawler and Carlos Condit which is sure to be in the running for 2016’s ‘Fight Of The Year’ after five rounds of closely fought striking action. The fight’s cresecendo undoubtedly occured during the final five minutes when Lawler went on the rampage, lighting Condit up with huge punches that left him on unsteady legs and sapped his strength, yet he refused to fall down or give in and made it to the final bell under heavy fire. The close nature of the battle was reflected in a split decision verdict, with Lawler emerging victorious.
Meanwhile, Stipe Miocic earned a ‘Performance Of The Night’ bonus after taking just 54 seconds to halt Andrei Arlovski’s recent winning streak. A right hook that landed flush to Arlovski’s ear buckled his legs, while another right then sent him to his knees, with a left landing to the temple on the way down for good measure, resulting in a TKO stoppage.
Finally, Michael McDonald made a successful return to action, though it was anything but easy with Masanori Kanehara putting him on his back in both the first and second rounds where he was able to control the action. Kanehara looked close to finishing McDonald during that second stanza with an arm triangle choke, but McDonald managed to not only escape from it, but instantly take his opponent’s back, sink in a rear-naked choke and force him to tap, all in one beautiful sequence.
