UFC Fight Night 51 was live from Brasilia, Brazil this past Saturday night (Sept. 13, 2014) on UFC Fight Pass with a fairly good night of fights. 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. Andrei Arlovski earns Performance of the Night (formerly, Knockout of the Night) “The Pitbull” scored a much-needed career highlight in the main event of UFC Fight Night 51, knocking out hometown favorite Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in the very first round of action. It was a huge upset in Brazil, as Arlovski was a near 4-to-1 underdog heading into the five-round heavyweight contest. After an unimpressive start to his second Octagon stint at UFC 174 three months ago, the Belarusian squeezed by with a controversial split decision victory over “Big Brown” Brendan Schaub and made the most of his quick turnaround this past Saturday night, catching the Brazilian during an exchange, and following up with reckless ground and pound to put him away. Now 2-0 since his return to the UFC and on a four fight winning streak, fight fans are again excited about seeing Arlovski fight and will be looking forward to the next one. Noteworthy T/KO’s: – Santiago Ponzinibbio defeated promotional newcomer Wendell Oliveira via TKO in the very first round of action. Both welterweights traded heavy shots and Oliveira was going for the kill but was countered and hurt by Ponzinibbio, who gave him no chance to recover, as he followed up with more strikes to get the quick, although justified stoppage from the referee. Oliveira argued the call, but nobody else seemed to. – George Sullivan defeated Igor Araujo via knockout in the second round of action. He ended up in the Brazilian’s guard, from which position he used his heavy hands to unleash a ground and pound attack that put Araujo out cold. He was defending the punches when getting knocked out, which speaks volumes for how hard Sullivan hits. The knockout makes Sullivan 2-0 inside the Octagon and gives him 11 T/KO’s in 16 career wins. Godofredo Pepey earns Performance of the Night (formerly, Submission of the Night) Pepey saved his job with a flying knee knockout of Noad Lahat nearly six months ago, earning ‘Performance of the Night’ honors. The Brazilian now has two finishes in as many fights after submitting Dashon Johnson on the preliminary card of UFC Fight Night 51. After some closely contested action, Johnson tried to take the fight to the mat, which is Pepey’s bread and butter, so he made quick work of the formerly undefeated prospect, locking up a mounted triangle-armbar to the earn the tap with just half a minute remaining in the first stanza. Now on a two-fight winning streak, the Brazilian will likely look to take on an opponent with a bit of name value for his next Octagon outing. Noteworthy Submissions: – Jessica Andrade defeated promotional newcomer Larissa Pacheco via guillotine choke submission with less than half a minute to go in the very first round of action. It was a very impressive performance by Andrade, and arguably the best of her professional mixed martial arts career. Taking out the former Jungle Fight 135-pound champion is a big deal for Andrade, who will be looking for a step up in competition in their next outing. – The beef was marinated, cooked and settled in this bantamweight rematch, as Rani Yahya defeated recently turned foe Johnny Bedford via second round submission, using his superior Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu game to lock up a kimura during a grappling exchange. It was a great outing by Yahya, who will be looking to go 2-0 at 135-pounds the next time he steps foot in the Octagon. Gleison Tibau and Piotr Hallmann earn Fight of the Night for their closely contested, back and forth three round war at UFC Fight Night 51. It was a fairly entertaining lightweight scrap that saw both fighters have their moments, but it was the Brazilian who ultimately came out on top, taking home a split decision victory in front of his fellow Brazilians. Other noteworthy fights: – While there were a number of great finishes at UFC Fight Night 51, the event lacked in ‘Fight of the Night’ contenders.
