UFC 172 was live from Baltimore last night and produced a lot of great action from top to bottom. 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. Chris Beil earns Performance of the Night (formerly, Knockout of the Night) Chris “The Real Deal” Beal was a competitor on Ronda Rousey’s team on season 18 of The Ultimate Fighter reality series. In the quarter finals, he was submitted by eventual TUF 18 winner Chris Holdsworth, and when the show wrapped up, Beal did not get a fight on the finale card. Back on the regional circuit fighting for BAMMA, Beal scored a second round TKO that took his record to 8-0 and earned him a shot inside the Octagon. “The Real Deal” made the most of his promotional debut, hurting fellow newcomer Patrick Williams in the first round, and hunting him down for an incredible flying knee knockout in the second. Joe Rogan said it’s the best flying knee finish he has seen inside the Octagon, and I very much agree with him. That was an incredible way for Beal to kick off the UFC 172 card, and he truly earned his ‘Performance of the Night’ award. Noteworthy T/KOs : – Danny Castillo was outwrestled by Charlie Brenneman in the first round of action, but came out in the second frame and blasted “The Spaniard” with an overhand right that put him to sleep at less than half a minute into the round. It was a very impressive knockout by Castillo, and were it not for Beal’s incredible flying knee, this KO would have taken home the prize. Also, other than Beal, this was the only other T/KO of the evening. Joe Benavidez earns Performance of the Night (formerly, Submission of the Night) Big underdog Tim Elliott surprised many fans last night by controlling the first round of his bout against the Team Alpha Male product; however it was Benavidez who wound up in superior position when the fight hit the mat in the second half of the frame. The former flyweight title challenger worked his way into a guillotine choke, which is a known specialty of his. With his hands stuck beneath Benavidez’s thighs, Elliott was forced to tap using his feet, as if he were the little brother telling his big brother he’d had enough. That was the first time a guillotine has been applied inside the Octagon in that manner, in which an opponent did not have his hands free and had to use his feet to tap. It was a brilliant comeback and finish for Benavidez, and his ‘Performance of the Night’ award was well deserved. Although it only lasted a single round, Benavidez vs Elliott was a great fight, and a real contender for the ‘Fight of the Night’ award. Noteworthy Submissions : – Max Holloway submitted Andre Fili with a guillotine choke in the third round. After battling it out on the feet for the majority of two and a half rounds, Holloway hurt Fili in the third and then latched on a guillotine choke when the Team Alpha Male fighter tried to clear out the cobwebs with a takedown attempt. Fili tried to work his way out of it, but found himself in more pain, and was forced to tap. It was a nice outing for Holloway, and the first submission victory of his career. – It was the night of the guillotines, as Jim Miller also submitted Yancy Medeiros via guillotine choke in the first round of their Pay-Per-View main card bout. Unlike Tim Elliott and Andre Fili, Medeiros refused to tap and went to sleep, waking up finding himself lying on top of Miller. – It didn’t take much time for the biggest favorite on the entire card Luke Rockhold to have his opponent Tim Boetsch in trouble. As soon as the fight hit the mat, Rockhold locked in an inverted triangle and began working on it. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts at securing the choke, he went for Boetsch’s arm’s with the leg-triangle still applied. He cranked on a kimura, and forced the tap from Boetsch, earning a submission victory via inverted triangle-kimura, yet another first inside the Octagon. Isaac Vallie-Flagg and Takanori Gomi earn Fight of the Night Vallie-Flagg and Gomi fought in the FOX Sports 1 preliminary portion of the UFC 172 fight card, and they produced the most exciting bout of the evening. It was a three round, back-and-forth barn burner. By the end of the fight, Vallie-Flagg was left with his right eye bruised shut and blood pouring from his face. It was a close battle, and both lightweights had their moments, but it was the PRIDE veteran who found himself on the better end of most exchanges, ultimately earning a 29-28 score on all three judges’ scorecards. This was a very fun fight to watch, and it was great hearing “USA” chants get over-taken by chants of “Gomi” in the third round. After a controversial split decision loss to Diego Sanchez, it is good to see “The Fireball Kid” back in the win column. There was a lot of value in Vallie-Flagg and Gomi taking home this award at +800, and thankfully I was able to spot it and recommend it in my ’FOTN’ article. UFC 172 featured many exciting fights, both on the main card and the prelims, which speaks volumes about these lightweight warriors who left it all in the cage, and rightfully earned their shared ‘Fight of the Night’ award. Other noteworthy fights: – The aforementioned Benavidez vs Elliott. – The aforementioned Fili vs Holloway. – Jon Jones vs Glover Teixeira proved to be an exciting, 25 minute main event. Not many expected this bout to go all five rounds of action, as both light heavyweights have very high finish rates. While it was obvious that Jones was winning the fight, it still remained interesting because Teixeira has the power that could end it at any time, and several times it appeared as if he may be coming close, but the champ’s chin more than held up. It was a very impressive title defense for Jones, and an entertaining fight to wrap up a solid night of great bouts.
