The Ultimate Fighting Championship was in Mexico City, Mexico this past Saturday night for the first time in promotion history with UFC 180. 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. Fabricio Werdum earns Performance of the Night (formerly, Knockout of the Night) In the headliner for UFC 180 in Mexico City, Mark Hunt was getting the better of Fabricio Werdum on the feet, dropping him a couple of times and easily winning the first round. Things seemed to be looking the same in the second stanza, until Werdum pulled off a jumping knee that Hunt did not see coming. It caught him flush on the chin and sent him down to the canvas, where the Brazilian followed up with a barrage of strikes to earn the TKO stoppage from the referee and ultimately the interim UFC heavyweight championship title. It was a very entertaining main event from the very start to the surprising finish. Noteworthy T/KOs: – Augusto “Dodger” Montano defeated Chris Heatherly via first round TKO using his vicious knees against the cage, and it was an impressive promotional debut for the Mexican. – Jessica “Evil” Eye defeated Leslie Smith via doctor stoppage in the second round of action, due to a gruesome cut she had opened on Smith’s ear. If the fight had gone on any longer, it was likely Smith’s ear would have completely fallen off. It was like watching the real life version of the Michael Madsen scene in Reservoir Dogs. Kelvin Gastelum earns Performance of the Night (formerly, Submission of the Night) Ellenberger seemed to have been getting the better of Gastelum on the feet, which would cause the Mexican to initiate his wrestling, which he found some success with. It was during a grappling exchange towards the end of the first frame that saw Ellenberger freeze for a split-second, which was more than enough time to allow Gastelum to take his bank and sink in his famed rear naked choke to earn the submission victory and become an undefeated 11-0 as a professional mixed martial artist. With the way he has been looking, it is very possible he could become the youngest welterweight champion in the promotion’s history. Other noteworthy Submissions: – Ricardo Lamas defeated Dennis Bermudez via guillotine choke submission in the very first round of action. It was the first guillotine choke submission win for Lamas since his first two professional mixed martial arts bouts, both of which he won by guillotine choke. It was an impressive outing by Lamas, who was truly getting tested on the feet by Bermudez, but his reach advantage in the match greatly benefited him, as a stiff jab sent Bermudez down and gave him the chance to pounce on him and quickly lock up the choke. After surviving earlier trouble in the match, this time it was too tight, and he was forced to tap and give up his incredibly impressive seven fight winning streak. – Gabriel Benitez defeated fellow promotional newcomer Humberto Brown via guillotine choke in the third round of action. Brown showed toughness and great heart surviving earlier attempts in the fight, however Benitez locked up a standing guillotine choke at the beginning of the third frame that put him to sleep. – It was the night of the guillotine’s, as Hector Urbina defeated fellow Mexican and promotional returner Edgar Garcia by that fashion in the very first round of action. It was a close, back and forth fight that saw Garcia getting the better of the exchanges. After surviving earlier attempts by Urbina, he kept leaving his neck out there and finally paid the price, being forced to tap with just over a minute left in the stanza. Henry Briones and Guido Cannetti earn Fight of the Night for their hard fought battle which lasted little over a round of action. The fight saw both fighters have their moments, but it was the Argentenian Canenetti who was getting the better of the striking exchanges and hurting Briones with knees and kicks to the body. Though Cannetti was clearly winning, Briones heart and toughness kept things entertaining, especially considering he was able to answer back with some solid punches of his own. Cannetti seemed to be cruising a bit, however the tables turned very early on in the second frame, where Briones caught him with a counter uppercut during an exchange, sending Cannetti to the canvas and then quickly pouncing on him with a ground and pound attack. The Argentenian tried to survive and made the fatal mistake of giving up his back, as Briones wasted no time sinking in a rear naked choke to get the quick tap and his first Octagon victory in brilliant come-from-behind fashion. Other noteworthy fights: – The aforementioned Werdum vs Hunt. – The aforementioned Gastelum vs Ellenberger. – The aforementioned Lamas vs Bermudez.
