...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
For the second event in a row on Saturday, the UFC handed out four "Performance of the Night" bonuses without a clear standout "Fight of the Night."
With that, Rafael dos Anjos, Jordan Mein, Thales Leites, and a returning Ben Saunders each took home an extra $50K for their individual performances.
Dos Anjos pulled off a major upset in the night's main event in as impressive a win as he's ever had. A significant underdog to former Champion Benson Henderson, dos Anjos pulled off a knockout in the first round, becoming the first fighter to ever stop Henderson by strikes.
Mein pulled off a knockout win of his own in the co-main event, stopping Mike Pyle with a brutal left and several follow up strikes on the ground. That's a bit of a theme in these bonuses, as Leites as well scored an impressive finish when he took out Francis Carmont just 20 seconds into the second round of their fight.
As for Saunders, he made a successful return to the Octagon in historic fashion, becoming the first fighter ever to finish a fight by omoplata in the UFC. Employing a high rubber guard after getting taken down by Chris Weatherly, Saunders held him in position after locking on the omoplata shoulder lock, and wrenched Weatherly's arm even further to force the tap to the painful hold.
DON'T GO YET... WE SUGGEST THESE MMATORCH ARTICLES, TOO!
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.
