UFC Fight Night 62 from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil produced a night of jaw-dropping, seat jumping and unfortunately some head scratching moments this past Saturday night. With its ups and downs, it was a solid night of scraps for fight fans to tune into (FOX Sports 1) at no cost. After the event concluded, the promotion awarded four $50,000 bonus checks to four fighters for ‘Performance of the Night’ honors. UFC Fight Night 62’s bonus-award winners were… Gilbert Burns earned Performance of the Night honors for his third round, come-from-behind submission victory over short-notice promotional newcomer Alex Oliveira. After being down two rounds on scorecards, Burns went into the third frame with one thing in mind: finish. He immediately scored a takedown and mounted Oliveira. The Brazilian tried to defend, but it was a matter of time before Burns was able to lock on to something, and an armbar was his prize. He locked it up, went belly down and got the tap from Oliveira, who displayed great skill and heart throughout the bout. This was a fight where there really is no loser. Godofredo Pepey earned Performance of the Night honors for his first round triangle submission victory over Team Alpha Male product Andre Fili. It was an impressive finish for the Brazilian who improves his Octagon winning streak to three, with all three wins coming by way of finish, and in his native Brazil. Perhaps his next outing will see the Brazilian travel outside of Brazl for the first time in his career. Edimilson ‘Kevin’ Souza earned Performance of the Night honors for his first round knockout of Japanese veteran Katsunori Kikuno. With the beautiful, highlight-reel finish, Souza improves to 3-0 in the UFC and moves up the promotion’s 145-pound ladder. Fredy Serrano earned Performance of the Night honors for his third round knockout of fellow TUF: Latin America cast-mate Bentley Syler. After controlling the action in a slow paced first two rounds, the Columbian found the Bolivian’s chin with an uppercut and put him to a deep sleep in highlight-reel fashion. An impressive victory for Serrano, who looked good in his first cut to 125-pounds. Other noteworthy performances: – Demian Maia defeated New York’s Ryan LaFlare via unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards following five rounds of action in the main event of the evening. The Brazilian found success with his takedowns and got the better of LaFlare on the mat in the first four frames, which was enough to pick up the unanimous nod from the judges’ at Octagon-side, despite being deducted one point by referee Big John McCarthy in the fifth stanza for stalling the action. All in all, it was a solid outing by Maia, who many, including myself counted out in this match-up against the rising welterweight prospect LaFlare. He proved that he is still a contender in the UFC’s welterweight division and is no easy out for anyone at 170-pounds. – Erick Silva defeated TUF 1 veteran Josh Koscheck via guillotine choke in the tail end of the first round in the co-main event of the evening. Both 170-pounders traded heavy blows and went to war in this, one of the more entertaining fights of the evening. The bout was closely contested until Silva hurt Koscheck with a punch, at which point “Kos” went for a takedown, leaving his neck open for the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt to do what he does best. Silva immediately went for the guillotine, sunk it in, and Koscheck knew he had made a fatal error. Another great performance by the Brazilian, and another first round finish. – Christos Giagos defeated Brazil’s Jorge de Oliveira via rear naked choke submission in the first round of action. The former RFA 155-pound champion made quick work of de Oliveira, taking him down, taking his back and sinking up the choke to earn the tap and pick up his first UFC victory.
