Following last night’s UFC Fight Night 221 event in Las Vegas the recipients of the evening’s $50,000 bonus awards were announced.
Earning ‘Fight Of The Night’ honors was the main card opener, which saw Contender Series recruits Vitor Petrino and Anton Turkalj engage in a spirited scrap for the full 15 minutes.
This was a fight that went everywhere, with both men eating heavy shots on the feet, battling for supremacy from the clinch, landing big takedowns and reversing each other on the mat. Perhaps their defensive grappling left something to be desired given how many transitions there were, but it made for an entertaining battle, and in the end it was Petrino who consistently had the bigger moments to emerge with a unanimous decision victory (30-26, 30-27 x2).
Davey Grant won a ‘Performance Of The Night’ bonus for his jaw-dropping finish against Raphael Assuncao in the prelims.
Grant had come off second-best in the first two rounds and was deducted a point in the third for grabbing the fence. However, with just less than 30 seconds remaining he suddenly landed flush with a spinning backfist that forced Assuncao to go for a desperation takedown. He hoisted his opponent into the air, but remarkably as they dropped to the mat Grant was able to lock in an inverted triangle choke that would render Assuncao unconscious.
Undoubtedly one of the best finishes you’ll see all year long and also a poignant moment as the 40-year-old Assuncao announced his retirement immediately afterwards.
Also picking up a performance bonus was Bruno Silva, who was able to land a clean front kick to the jaw of Tyson Nam in the second round to floor him and then got him in a rear-naked choke that put his opponent to sleep.
