UFC 181 was live on Pay Per View from Las Vegas this past Saturday night and produced a night of great fights, seven of which resulted in finishes. After the event concluded, the UFC awarded $50,000 to two fighters for ‘Performance of the Night’ and two fighters for ‘Fight of the Night’. The lines to wager on these props were available at Several Bookmakerss. Josh Samman earns Performance of the Night (formerly, Knockout of the Night) In his return to action after an extended layoff, Samman spent the majority of his fight against The Ultimate Fighter Season 19 winner Eddie Gordon on his back. Though in superior position on the mat, Gordon was failing to produce offense, which forced the referee to keep bringing the fight back to the feet. After the second stand up by the ref in the second round, Samman landed a head-kick that put “Truck” out cold, and he walked off with his hands in the air. It was a very impressive win for Samman, and a definite highlight to his reel. Now 2-0 inside the Octagon, fight fans surely look forth to his next outing, which shouldn’t be long, as he has voiced that he looks to make a quick turnaround. Noteworthy T/KOs: – Todd Duffee defeated Anthony Hamilton via knockoutat only 0:33 into the very first round of action. It was a very impressive outing for Duffy after a two year layoff and fight fans look forward to seeing him back in action soon. – Travis Browne defeated Brendan Schaub via TKO with only ten seconds remaining in the very first round of action. Schaub was getting the better of Browne in the early going of the round, but the tables quickly turned when the Hawaiian landed an uppercut that hurt Schaub. Browne was quick to take advantage, finding himself in mount position on the mat. “Big Brown” managed to escape a few times, but Browne kept regaining the mount and raining down some of the heaviest ground and pound the heavyweight division has ever seen, busting Schaub’s face open. Eventually, the referee had seen enough, so with Schaub covering up and ten seconds remaining in the frame, the fight was called off, awarding “Hapa” the victory by way of TKO. Anthony Pettis earns Performance of the Night (formerly, Submission of the Night) After being outwrestled by opponent Gilbert Melendez in the first round of their five round co-main event title fight, Pettis found success in the second by catching on to the neck of Melendez during an exchange, and was quick to sink the guillotine choke, giving “El Nino” his first career loss by submission. It is now back to back submission wins for Pettis, who successfully made his first title defense. UFC President Dana White calls him pound for pound the best fighter in the world, and so far, nobody can say he’s wrong. Other noteworthy Submissions: – Tony Ferguson defeated Abel Trujillo via rear naked choke submission in the second round of action. Trujillo hurt Ferguson early in the first round, and while fading towards the end of the frame, he arguably edged the round. Unfortunately, fatigue continued to set in for him in the second frame, where he ultimately had his back taken by “El Cucuy” and was forced to tap to the rear naked choke The Ultimate Fighter Season 17 winner quickly applied. – Raquel Pennington defeated promotional newcomer Ashlee Evans-Smith via technical bulldog choke submission towards the tail end of the very first round. It was an impressive outing by Pennington and the pitch-perfect way for her to bounce back into the win column. Sergio Pettis and Matt Hobar earn Fight of the Night for hard-fought 15 minute battle at this past Saturday night’s UFC 181 in Las Vegas. Hobar found some success with his striking, but more so with his grappling, however it was “The Phenom” who got the best of most exchanges, ultimately outstriking Hobar en route to picking up a unanimous decision victory on the judges’ scorecards. It was an entertaining bout, and with the loss, Hobar goes back to the drawing board, while Pettis plans a move back down the flyweight division, coming off a pair of wins at 135 pounds. Other noteworthy fights: – Robbie Lawler defeated Johny Hendricks via controversial split decision to become the new UFC welterweight champion. The produced another fun five rounds of action, bring their total to ten, and considering the controversial decision, a third fight in the trilogy could very well be in the works. – The aforementioned Pettis vs Melendez lightweight title bout. – The aforementioned Ferguson vs Trujillo bout.
