UFC returned with another double header last night with UFC Fight Night 53 in Sweden and UFC Fight Night 54 in Nova Scotia with a combined 23 bouts. It was a very entertaining night of scraps, with 10 of 23 of them ending inside the distance; eight of them coming in the very first round of action. After the events concluded, the UFC awarded a $50,000 bonus to four fighters from each card; four of them earning ‘Performance of the Night’ honors, and the other four receiving ‘Fight of the Night’ honors. The lines to wager on these props were available at Several Bookmakerss. Mike Wilkinson earns ‘Performance of the Night’ honors for defeating Sweden’s Niklas Backstrom via first round knockout on the main card of last night’s UFC Fight Night 53 in Sweden. It was the biggest upset of the night, as the Swede was a 10-to-1 betting favorite over the Brit heading into the contest. The fight did not last very long, with Wilkinson connecting and dropping Backstrom to the canvas at just over a minute into the fight. Backstrom appeared to be unconscious after the punch that sent him to the mat, but Wilkinson followed up with a few more, until the referee halted the action, awarding the Brit his first UFC victory. Max Holloway earns Performance of the Night honors for his first round knockout of Akira Corassani in the co-main event of last night’s UFC Fight Night 53 in Sweden. The fight started off close, with Corassani arguably getting the better of the Hawaiian. However, Holloway quickly found his groove and started connecting in volume, and his volume and accuracy proved to be too much for Corassani, as he ended up getting dropped and finished against the cage. The win made it four in a row for Holloway, with all four victories coming inside the distance; three by way of T/KO and one by submission. Rory MacDonald earns Performance of the Night honors for his third round TKO of former Strikeforce middleweight champion Tarec Saffiedine in the main event of last night’s UFC Fight Night 54 in Nova Scotia. After a close two rounds with each fighter arguably taking a round a piece heading into the third, Saffiedine seemed to be opening up and getting into his rhythm. Unfortunately for the Belgian, that did not last long, as MacDonald connected with a shot that dropped him to the canvas. Wasting no time, the Canadian quickly pounced on and delivered some brutal ground and pound to get the stoppage from the referee. The victory puts MacDonald on a three fight winning streak and he believes he is next in line to take on the winner of December’s Lawler vs Hendricks II. Olivier Aubin-Mercier earns Performance of the Night honors for his second round submission of Jake Lindsey. It was a very creative submission by the French-Canadian, who admittedly went for it to win the bonus, as the kimura was also there for him but he opted to go for the more creative finish, with the $50,000 in mind. Officially dubbed an “inverted triangle americana”, it gave Aubin-Mercier his first victory inside the Octagon and gave him the pockets load of cash he hoped for. Dennis Siver and Charles Rosa earn ’Fight of the Night’ honors for their very entertaining, back and forth three round brawl on the preliminary card of UFC Fight Night 53 in Sweden. It was Siver who ultimately got the better of the exchanges, especially in the grappling, as he went on to pick up a unanimous decision victory on the judges’ scorecards, with 30-27 scored across the board. The fight was a lot closer than the scores may suggest, as Rose was very game and Siver did just enough to edge the rounds. Siver is a fighter who used to be known for his excellent striking, but he has lately been displaying a solid grappling game in his match-ups, as he has used his wrestling to control opponents. Rosa was making his UFC debut on only five days’ notice, and although a losing effort, he won over many fans and cemented himself as a legitimate contender in the UFC’s 145-pound division. The sky is the limit for Rosa, who is still fairly new to the sport and is constantly improving. Chris Kelades and Patrick Holohan earn ’Fight of the Night’ honors for their three round battle on the preliminary card of last night’s UFC Fight Night 54 in Nova Scotia. It was a fun fight that the crowd got loud for, as Kelades was the only hometown fighter competing on the entire card, and doing so on only five days’ notice, replacing an injured Louis Gaudinot. Kelades displayed his solid wrestling skills and used it to control the Irishman on the mat for the majority of two out of three rounds to pick up a unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards, with a 29-28 score across the board. It was an impressive debut for the former bantamweight; he certainly earned a lot of fans with that short notice performance, and as for Holohan, it’s back to the drawing board.
