UFC Fight Night 65 was live from Australia this past Saturday night and produced a night of exciting fights and finishes. After the event concluded, the UFC handed out four $50,000 checks to four fighters for ‘Performance of the Night’ honors. UFC Fight Night 65’s bonus award winners were… Robert Whittaker earned Performance of the Night honors for his first round knockout of The Ultimate Fighter Season 11 veteran Brad Tavares. It was an impressive performance by the New Zealand native in his second outing at 185-pounds, and with it he is likely to crack the division’s top 15 rankings. James Vick earned Performance of the Night honors for his first round guillotine choke submission of undefeated TUF: Smashes veteran Jake Matthews. It was a great outing by Vick, who stays undefeated and goes 4-0 inside the Octagon. Daniel Hooker earned Performance of the Night honors for his come-from-behind second round head-kick knockout of Japanese veteran Hatsu Hioki. After surviving multiple grappling exchanges and submission attempts, the New Zealand native appeared to be on his way towards a unanimous decision defeat, but then shocked the home crowd with a kick that put Hioki out cold. After connecting with two earlier but failing to put him away, it was the third time that was the charm. Hooker added the best highlight to his career reel while simultaneously saving himself from dropping to an 0-2 skid. Alex Chambers earned Performance of the Night honors for her come-from-behind, third round armbar submission victory over Kailin Curran. The Hawaiian was getting the better of her on the feet until the grappling exchange in the third frame, where the Australian took full advantage of a mistake made by Curran and took her arm home with the win. It was a win the 36-year old badly needed, and defintely the most important of her professional mixed martial arts career. Other noteworthy performances: – Stipe Miocic defeated New Zealand native Mark Hunt by fifth round TKO in the main event of the evening. The Croatian-American was favored overed Hunt heading into the contest, but made it look much easier than anybody anticipated. Arguably the most impressive performance of his career, Miocic is right back in the UFC heavyweight title picture. – Sean O’Connell defeated Anthony Perosh via first round TKO to extend his winning streak to 2-0 inside the Octagon. Now with back to back TKO finishes, fight fans look forward to seeing “The Real OC” back inside the Octagon. – Sam Alvey defeated Dan Kelly via TKO within the first minute of the very first round of action, and he is now on a three fight winning streak with three first round knockout finishes. – Brad Scott defeated Dylan Andrews via second round guillotine choke to return to the win column in the UFC’s 185-pound division. Andrews had his moments in the bout, but it was Scott who got the better of the exchanges and ultimately caught to earn the tap with seconds remaining in the second. – Ben Nguyen defeated Alptekin Ozkilic via TKO with only a second remaining in the very first round of action. It was an impressive Octagon debut for Nguyen, and fight fans look forth to his next outing.
