Following last night’s UFC On ESPN 12 event in Las Vegas the recipients of the evening’s $50,000 bonus awards were announced.
Earning ‘Fight Of The Night’ honors was what indeed turned out to also be a ‘Fight Of The Year’ contender in the main event between Dustin Poirier and Dan Hooker.
Both men began fighting at a ferocious pace from the opening bell and Poirier was throwing everything he had into big, and very accurate, punches to the head, while Hooker was firing back with plenty of his own and also landing hard leg kicks too.
By the end of the second round both men were already breathing heavily bleeding, and Poirier had been rocked with a big knee and follow-up punches, yet they continued with the same level of intensity in the rounds that followed and were involved in competitive grappling exchanges along with the striking.
Only in the final five minutes did Poirier appear to have a little more in the locker and that helped him edge out in front in the striking exchanges to seal the round and ultimately the fight via unanimous decision.
The debuting Kay Hansen earned one of two Performance Of The Night’ bonuses after she tapped out Jinh Yu Frey with an armbar midway through the final round.
Also securing a performance bonus was Julian Erosa, who had been coming off second best against Sean Woodson in their main card fight, but put an end to a three-fight losing steak late in the bout when he managed to catch his opponent in a d’arce choke.
