The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned to New Orleans this past Saturday night (June 6th, 2015) for UFC Fight Night 68: Boetsch vs Henderson, and the action-packed night saw 10 of 12 contests end by either T/KO or submission. Following the wild night of scraps, the promotion handed out four $50,000 checks to four fighters for ‘Performance of the Night’ and ‘Fight of the Night’ honors. Betting lines to wager on such props were made available at Several Bookmakerss. And without further ado, UFC Fight Night 68’s Post-Fight bonus’ went to… Dustin Poirier earned Performance of the Night honors for his first round TKO of Yancy Medeiros. It was a very impressive outing by Poirier, who dominated every second of the contest, much like in his UFC 155-pound debut against Diego Ferreira. “The Diamond” scored another impressive T/KO victory and advances to 2-0 in the UFC’s lightweight division. Fight fans certainly look forward to his next outing at 155-pounds. Shawn Jordan earned Performance of the Night honors for his second round TKO of Derrick Lewis. It was a rematch of a bout which Jordan initial won via unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards. In the rematch, he got the better of Lewis in the first frame, and dropped with with a surprising hook-kick in the second, following up with a ground-and-pound in mount position on the mat for a TKO stoppage, ultimately earning his third straight victory inside the Octagon, all three coming by way of T/KO. Other noteworthy performances: – Dan Henderson defeated Tim Boetsch via knockout at only 0:28 into the contest scheduled for five rounds. Another impressive knockout victory under his belt, “Hendo” returns to the win column and looks forth to his next fight, for which he will be 45-years old when he enters the Octagon. That is, unless he he takes a short notice bout within the next two months. – Ben Rothwell defeated Matt Mitrione via frontchoke submission in the very first round of action to extend his winning streak to 3-0. Mitrione was getting the better of Rothwell on the feet but made the fatal mistake of shooting for a takedown. He got the takedown, but froze as Rothwell moved quickly, getting up and gaining superior position on him, immediately wrapping up a front-choke and securing the tap from Mitrione. Rothwell was quick to capitalize on a mistake and adds another finish to his resume, getting one step closer to his goal of competing for the UFC heavyweight title, possibly in a rematch against current champ Cain Velasquez. – Joe Proctor defeated Justin Edwards via technical guillotine choke submission with a mere two-seconds remaining in the 15-minute contest. Edwards seemed to be seconds away from earning a decision victory when Proctor hurt him on the feet and then capitalized with a guillotine choke, which Edwards tried his best to survive but went to sleep with only two seconds remaining in the final stanza. The come-from-behind victory puts Proctor back in the win column, while Edwards slides down to 0-3 in his last three bouts and sits on the chopping block. Brian Ortega and Thiago Tavares earned Fight of the Night honors for going to war on the evening’s main card. It was a very closely contested contest until the tail end of the third frame, where Ortega hurt the veteran on the feet and capitalized on the mat, advancing into mount position and ground-and-pounding his way for a TKO stoppage. Both 155-pounders put up a great fight, and despite the defeat, Tavares’ stock did not drop after that showing. This was a very entertaining scrap and well worthy of the fight-night bonus. Other noteworthy fights: – The aforementioned Shawn Jordan vs Derrick Lewis bout. – Chris Wade defeated Christos Giagos via unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards to advance to 3-0 inside the Octagon, while Giagos falls to 1-2. Giagos put up a good fight, but it was Wade’s wrestling advantage that proved to be the difference, as his takedowns would secure rounds for him en route to his third straight UFC victory. Both lightweights had their moments, with Giagos getting the better of Wade on the feet, but the difference in wrestling ultimately proved to be too much. Wade managed to get his hand raised after the 15-minutes of action, but fight fans look forward to seeing both 155-pounders back inside the Octagon. – The aforementioned Joe Proctor vs Justin Edwards bout. – Jake Collioer defeated Ricardo Abreu via Split Decision on the judges’ scorecards following three closely contested rounds of action. I personally scored the bout for Abreu, but despite the outcome, I think it was quie an entertaining scrap in the UFC’s middleweight division.
