Following last night’s UFC 287 event the recipients of the evening’s $50,000 bonus awards were announced.
The ‘Fight Of The Night’ was a three-round war between Kelvin Gastelum and Chris Curtis that fronted the preliminary card.
With five losses in his last six fights there was a lot of pressure on Gastelum and he certainly fought like he was determined to reverse his fortunes, with Curtis proving to be a willing dance partner as they slugged it out for the full 15 minutes. It was Gastelum who was generally getting the better of the action though as he outworked his opponent with volume and speed, but Curtis tested his chin at times and came on strong in the final round to make for an exciting conclusion, with Gastelum emerging with a unanimous decision victory.
Meanwhile Israel Adesanya won one of two ‘Performance Of The Night’ awards after he delivered a stunning knockout victory over Alex Pereira to seize back the middleweight title.
It was a thrilling moment late in the second round, made all the more special by the fact that Pereira was actually pouring on the pressure on Adesanya at the time, landing to the leg, body and even a knee upstairs as his rival was up against the cage, only for Adesanya to then fire back with a big right hook that stunned him, followed up by another that sent him crashing backwards onto the canvas out cold, with a final hammerfist slamming down to leave no doubt that he’d finally beaten his nemesis at the fourth attempt.
Also earning a performance bonus was Rob Font who ended Adrian Yanez five-fight winning streak mid-way through the opening round, having initially hurt his opponent with an uppercut, before pouring on the pressure and landing a powerful right hook that floored him for a TKO finish.
