The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was live this past Saturday night (April 23, 2016) with UFC 197: Jones vs St Preux and featured a solid night of action. 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. UFC 197’s Post-Fight Bonus-Award winners were… Danny Roberts and Dominique Steele earn Fight of the Night honors for their three round battle on the preliminary card of the evening, with Steele getting the better of Roberts with his superior wrestling, while Roberts’ superior striking got the job done in the second and third to give him the unanimous decision nod over Steele. Both welterweights put on a tremendous effort and deserved the evening’s honors. For Roberts, it is 2-0 inside the Octagon following a submission of Nathan Coy in his promotional debut, and it’s back to the drawing board for Steele, who was coming off a second round knockout of Dong Hyun Kim in his promotional debut. Noteworthy fight(s): – Edson Barboza defeated Anthony Pettis via unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards following three entertaining rounds of action on the feet. Demetrious Johnson earns Performance of the Night for his first round TKO of then-undefeated Henry Cejudo. After being taken down by the Olympic gold medalist wrestler, “Mighty Mouse” took the fight back to the feet, where it was only a matter of time until he connected with some devestating knees to Cejudo’s body that made him wilt and allow Johnson to tee off for the TKO finish. It was yet another very impressive Octagon outing by arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet, and fight fans wonder who his next foe will be. Yair Rodriguez earns Performance of the Night for his second round flying karate kick knockout of Team Alpha Male product Andre “Touchy” Fili. It was an incredible, highlight reel knockout for Rodriguez, and a true coming out party for the Mexican fighter. After yet another solid performance inside the Octagon, he will likely draw ranked opposition for his next outing at 145-pounds, where he just cracked into the divisions rankings at #14 with the knockout victory. Fight fans certainly look forward to seeing this featherweight back inside the Octagon, sooner rather than later. He would be an ideal fighter to have part of UFC’s big three-fight weekend in July. Noteworthy Performance(s): – Walt Harris defeated UFC newcomer Cody East in come from behind fashion via TKO in the first round to earn his first victory inside the Octagon, in his second stint with the promotion.
