The Ultimate Fighting Championship was live from a sold out Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, China on Saturday, November 25 for UFC Fight Night 122. When the action concluded, the promotion handed out $200,000 in bonus checks to four fighters for ‘Performance of the Night’ honors. The betting lines to wager on such props were made available at Several Bookmakers.
UFC Fight Night 122 Bonuses went to…
Kelvin Gastelum earns Performance of the Night (formerly, Knockout of the Night)
In the main event, Kelvin Gastelum earned the biggest win of his career when he knocked out former champion Michael Bisping in the opening round. Gastelum entered the bout having lost his last fight to Chris Weidman and was desperate for a win. Gastelum did not disappoint as took advantage of a missed punch from Bisping and landed a beautiful right-left performance of the night caliber combination; the second of which landed flush sending Bisping spiraling to the canvas. It was a huge win for Gastelum and with Robert Whittaker in need of an opponent to the headline the UFC’s event in Australia in February, don’t be surprised if Gastelum gets the call and his first title fight.
Other Performance-winning knockout(s): Li Jingliang earned performance of the night for his quick work of Zak Ottow in the night’s co-main event. Jingliang pressed forward in this bout landing heavy hands on Ottow which sent him to the mat. Jingliang followed up with ground and pound to earn the first round win in front of his home country fans. With four consecutive wins in the UFC, it’s now clear that Jingliang is the best China born fighter to ever grace the Octagon. As he continues to have success, it’s time to give him better opponents and see if he can crack the division’s top 15.
Song Kenan earned performance of the night for the fastest knockout of the evening finishing Bobby Nash in just 15 seconds. It’s hard to have a better debut than a 15 second knockout. With few fighters from China having success in the UFC, Kenan will have his opportunities to shine on future events in the country.
Zabit Magomedsharipov earns Performance of the Night (formerly, Submission of the Night)
In what was perhaps the most impressive performance of the fight card, Zabit Magomedsharipov took on talented World Series of Fighter competitor turned UFC fighter Sheymon Moraes. Magomedsharipov showed his array of striking on the feet, but it was his tremendous grappling game that truly shined. His 10 takedowns are the most ever in a featherweight UFC bout and go to show just how dominant he can be on the mat. He capped the fight with an anaconda choke in the final round. Expect Magomedsharipov to enter the UFC’s top 15 featherweight rankings once the latest rankings are released. On talent, he’s certainly worthy of a ranking and can compete already against top 10 fighters in the division. Like welterweight Kamaru Usman, I expect opponents will avoid Magomedsharipov due to his relentless grappling ability so it may be hard for him to get quality fights in this division.
Other noteworhy result(s): Alex Garcia earned the biggest win of his career submitting talented debuter Muslim Salikhov in the second round. Salikhov is one of the most talented strikers to enter the UFC in some time, but he had no answer for Garcia’s ground game which stifled Salikhov’s striking opportunities. Garcia has traded wins with losses in his last seven UFC bouts, but perhaps Garcia has turned a corner in this bout with the best win of his MMA career.
