The Ultimate Fighting Championship was live from Detroit, Michigan on Saturday, December 2 for UFC 218. 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 218 Bonuses went to…
Eddie Alvarez and Justin Gaethje earn Performance of the Night (Formerly Fight of the Night)
In a fight so hyped up over recent weeks to deliver, did not disappoint. Alvarez and Gaethje are considered two of the most exciting action strikers in the UFC. Sometimes when these type of matchups happen, fighters get cautious and the bout underwhelms. That certainly didn’t happen in this case. The two fighters combined for 277 significant strikes in a back and forth slugfest that was reminiscent at times to Gotti vs. Ward in boxing. Alvarez was focused on body shots and movement while Gaethje was focused on leg kicks and head shots. Both fighters took a lot of damage in this bout and were not afraid to take a punch to throw two of their own. In the third round, the body shots began to take their toll as Gaethje started to slow down. Alvarez made the most of the opportunity landing a flush knee that dropped Gaethje forcing the referee to stop the bout. It gave the fight a definitive result. Look for Alvarez to take on Dustin Poirier next. As for Gaethje, the loser of the Edson Barboza vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov fight would make the most sense.
Other performance-winning fights: Yancy Medeiros and Alex Oliveira earn Performance of the Night (formerly, Fight of the Night)
In what many thought would be a fun fight turned into a classic as Yancy Medeiros and Alex Oliveira squared off on the preliminary card. Both fighters were dropped in the opening round as Medeiros and Oliveira were both offense first, defense second. The punch Medeiros landed early was a key to this bout as it busted Oliveira’s nose open making it hard for Oliveira to breathe. Over the course of the fight, this allowed Medeiros to start to get the most of the exchanges. After Oliveira had Medeiros backing up in the third and quick takedown, Medeiros recovered and was able to stop Oliveira in the final round with a striking onslaught. It was the biggest win of Medeiros career in a wild bout that fans will remember for years to come.
Other noteworthy result(s): Francis Ngannou is now the number one contender for the UFC Heavyweight Championship as he knocked out Alistair Overeem in the first round. It took less than two minutes for Ngannou to weave out of an Overeem punching attempt and land a left upper cut of his own to send the legendary fighter to the canvas. Ngannou has won all six of his bouts in the UFC having never saw a third round. A fascinating matchup with champion Stipe Miocic awaits.
Paul Felder earned the biggest win of his career as he got the best of jiu jitsu ace Charles Oliveira. Felder was in danger early in this bout as he had to fend off Oliveira’s submission attempts. Oliveira began to tire in the second round and Felder took over. He landed heavy elbows from top position forcing the referee to step in. With the win, Felder should debut in the UFC Lightweight Rankings next week.
