Following last night’s UFC 256 event the recipients of the evening’s $50,000 bonus awards were announced.
The ‘Fight Of The Night’ was a remarkable main event flyweight war between Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno.
An instant ‘Fight Of The Year’ contender, the two warriors fought tooth-and-nail for the full five rounds, as Figueiredo demonstrated his thunderous power to the head and body, but Moreno refused to back down and instead showed off his courage, toughness and skill with crisp striking and takedowns.
The third round saw Figueiredo being deducted a point after a hard kick landed to the groin of Moreno, leaving him crumpled on the mat in obvious distress, but again he toughed it out and now the eventual outcome of the fight was even more in doubt.
Both fighters were rocked during the fight and expended an incredible amount of energy, yet the championship rounds were still highly competitive and that left it in the hands of the judges to decide a winner…and they couldn’t, instead declaring a majority draw, (48-47, 47-47 x2) after only one judge saw Figueiredo as the narrow victor. That’s enough for him to retain the title, but a rematch is now inevitable.
Kevin Holland was one of two ‘Performance Of The night’ winners after his highly unconventional knockout victory against Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza.
‘Jacare’ had the fight where he wanted it on the mat, but despite essentially being sat on the canvas, Holland’s vast 81″ reach enabled him to uncork a big punch that rocked the Brazilian. Holland was then able to stand over the still-kneeling Jacare and blast him with powerful blows that secured the KO.
The final performance award was awarded to Rafael Fiziev, who showed off his high-level striking as he KO’d Renato Moicano with a right hand followed by a left hook in the opening round.
