Following last night’s UFC 227 event in Los Angeles the recipients of the evening’s $50,000 bonus awards were announced.
Earning ‘Fight Of The Night’ honors was the stunning co-main event clash between Demetrious Johnson and Henry Cejudo, which saw the long-time flyweight champion finally dethroned.
This was an extremely close fight, though in the first round it seemed like it might be swinging towards Johnson as Cejudo’s ankle was giving out on him repeatedly. However, Cejudo literally got his feet back under him and in the second round he showed that he was a force to be reckoned with by bringing ‘Mighty Mouse’ to the mat.
The third round was closely fought as Johnson appeared to edge out the striking, while Cejudo was finding success with takedowns, albeit struggling to keep the champion down. It was a similar story in the fourth, except this time Cejudo was able to keep Johnson on the mat for an extended period and landed some ground and pound, leaving both fighters with all to play for in the final five minutes.
The final round was another extremely close one as Cejudo stepped up his aggression on the feet and Johnson matched him, leaving the judges with a tough decision on their hands, and ultimately came the jaw-dropping news that the challenger had been given the nod by split decision, making him only the second flyweight champion in UFC history.
As you might expect, headlining bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw earned one of the evening’s two ‘Performance Of The Night’ awards after another exciting fight with Cody Garbrandt.
It was Garbrandt who put his rival in trouble early in the fight, but he then began to overcommit in search of a finish and instead found himself suddenly being the one in danger as Dillashaw dropped him with a left hook. Garbrandt got back up, but still looked hurt and Dillashaw took advantage, landing two right hooks that sent him staggering and then falling to the mat, before a big knee upstairs against the cage badly rocked the former champion and led to a TKO stoppage soon after.
Also claiming a ‘Performance Of The Night’ bonus was Renao Moicano who floored Cub Swanson with a stiff jab in the first round and then slickly moved in for a rear-naked choke finish on the mat.
