The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned to Brazil Sunday night (February 22, 2015) with UFC Fight Night 61 and the incredible night of scraps saw a record-setting 10 (out of 11) underdogs walk away victorious. Following the event, the promotion awarded four $50,000 checks to four fighters for ‘Performance of the Night’ honors. The lines to wager on these props were available at Several Bookmakerss. UFC Fight Night 61’s bonus-award winners were… Frank Mir earned Performance of the Night honors for his first round knockout of hometown favorite Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in the main event of the evening. It was a great way for the former two-time UFC heavyweight champion to snap his four-fight losing streak and return to the win column. For his next outing, he says he is open to complete the trilogy with either Brock Lesnar or Big Nog. With his performance, Mir put an end to all the whispers of retirement, and instead of calling for him to hang up his gloves, fight fans look forward to his next performance. When many thought he was on a decline, he proved them wrong by showing improved striking skills. Sam Alvey earned Performance of the Night honors for his first round knockout of Brazilian hometown favorite Cezar “Mutante” Ferreira. The Brazilian was getting the better of Alvey throughout the round, and the Wisconsin native barely attempted any strikes. Fortunately for him, quality over quantity was all that mattered, as a 1-2 combination after eating a “Mutante” elbow was all it took to put the Brazilian down. He was already out, but a couple of more punches sealed the deal, forcing the referee to step in and call it a wrap. It was an impressive, highlight-reel knockout for Alvey, who called out Australian four-time Judo Olympian Dan Kelly out in his post-fight interview with Jon Anik. Marion Reneau earned Performance of the Night honors for her first round triangle-choke submission of Brazil’s own Jessica Andrade. It was an impressive outing by Reneau, who improved to 6-1 and 2-0 inside the Octagon. At 37-years of age, she has racked up a pair of wins within seven weeks of time and has truly won over UFC President Dana White, who previously said she was too old to compete on The Ultimate Fighter television series. Matt Dwyer earned Performance of the Night honors for his first round knockout of Brazilian hometown favorite William Macario. It was a very impressive outing by the Canadian, who ended the fight in very impressive highlight-reel fashion, delivering a superman-punch that sunned the Brazilian and dropped him face first into the canvas. With the big win and huge upset, Dwyer finds himself back in the win column and looks forward to his next call from UFC match-maker Joe Silva. Other noteworthy performances: – Michael Johnson defeated Edson Barboza via unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards following three entertaining rounds of action. It was Johnson’s fight and he made that known from the opening bell, setting an aggressive pace and sticking to it ‘till the final bell. He didn’t find the finish, but he controlled the fight and soundly outstruck the Brazilian, ultimately delivering the most impressive performance of his professional mixed martial arts career. In his post-fight interview with Jon Anik, he asked for a fight against former UFC lightweight champion “Smooth” Benson Henderson. One thing is for sure, he hopes to remain in the co-main event slot, or find himself headlining a card for the first time in his career. In fact, he said he was disappointment his fight against Barboza was not promoted to the main event when the event’s original headliner between Rashad Evans and Glover Teixeira fell through, as he felt it was a slightly more important fight than Mir vs Bigfoot. – Frankie Saenz defeated Iuri Alcantara via unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards to come through as a +725 betting underdog, the biggest on the entire fight card from top to bottom. Being completely counted out by many, Saenz proved all naysayers wrong by getting the Brazilian both in the striking and grappling, ultimately delivering the most impressive performance of his professional mixed martial arts career and recording his biggest win to date. – Santiago Ponzinibbio defeated Sean Strickland via unanimous decision in another one of the 10 of 11 upsets of the evening in Brazil. It was the most entertaining fight of the evening, but surprisingly it did not take home ‘Fight of the Night’ honors, as the UFC did not award it to any fight, which seems somewhat strange, because there were some solid contenders. This was a fun fight that played out on the feet, where Ponzinibbio got the better of Strickland over the course of 15-minutes of action, ultimately giving the American the first official loss of his professional mixed martial arts career. This was a solid outing by the Argentinian, who now enjoys a two-fight winning streak inside the Octagon and looks forward to his next outing. – Mike de la Torre defeated Tiago Trator via TKO in the very first round of action. He seemed to have shut the Brazilian down from the get-go, as Trator was unable to get anything off. It didn’t take long for him to drop him and then finishes with some vicious punches. – Douglas Silva de Andrade defeated Cody Gibson via unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards following three rounds of entertaining, back and forth action between the bantamweights. This was a very fun fight that saw both fighters have their moments, but it was the Brazilian who got the better of the exchanges and ultimately walked away with the win. I felt this would be the fight that gets the Brazilian crowd going, and it delivered.
