The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) made it’s inaugural trip to Glasgow, Scotland, UK Saturday for UFC Fight Night 72: Bisping vs Leites. After a solid night of scraps that saw 50% of them end inside the distance, the promotion handed out four $50,000 checks to four fighters for ‘Performance of the Night’ and ‘Fight of the Night’ honors. To option to wager on such props were made available at Several Bookmakerss. UFC Fight Night 72’s post-fight bonus’ went to… Joseph Duffy earned Performance of the Night honors for his first round submission of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Ivan “Batman” Jorge. Duffy, otherwise known as the last man to defeat Conor McGregor, climbed to 2-0 in the UFC’s lightweight division and hopes for a return to action on the UFC’s upcoming Ireland card. The Irishman looks like a very solid prospect at 155-pounds and could be cracking into the division’s top 15 pretty soon. Stevie Ray earned Performance of the Night honors for his first round TKO of Brazilian Leonardo Mafra. Ray got the better of Mafra early in the stanza, eventually hurting him and following up for the finish. It was a solid outing for the Scot, who is now 2-0 in the UFC with a pair of TKO victories. He went into this fight injured from a motorcycle accident, but it did not stop him from adding a highlight to his reel. Other noteworthy performances: – Ilir Latifi defeated Hans Stringer via first round knockout to return to the win column. – Rob Whiteford defeated Paul Redmond via first round knockout and now enjoys a two-fight, winning streak inside the Octagon. – Jimmy Rivera defeated Marcus Brimage via first round knockout in his promotional debut, extending his winning streak to an impressive 15. -Daniel Omielanczuk defeated Chris De La Rocha via first round knockout to return to the win column. De La Rocha was completely outgunned on the feet and was never able to get anything off. The Pole scored the quickest finish of the Scotish evening. Joanne Calderwood and Cortney Casey earned Fight of the Night honors for their 15-minute battle on the main card in Calderwood’s hometown of Glasgow. The Scotland native got the better of the short notice promotional newcomer throughout the three rounds of action, taking home a unanimous decision victory on the judges’ scorecards. It was a good showing by Calderwood, who picked up her first win inside the Octagon and will now look to get back into the UFC’s Women’s 115-pound title picture. Other noteworthy fights: – Michael Bisping defeated Thales Leites via split decision on the judges’ scorecards following five very competitive rounds of action. The win makes it two in a row for “The Count” and he believes that he is no more than two more away from a title shot. This was an entertaining 25-minute fight, and despite being hurt on the feet in three different rounds, Bisping managed to get his work rate up and sneak away with the split decision nod. – Mickael Lebout defeated Teemu Packalen via unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards following three rounds of action. It was an entertaining fight that saw both fighters have their moments, but the short notice debut began to play a factor with Packalen. He began to fade and Lebout took over, finding himself in top position on the mat and cruising to a decision. The first half of the fight was entertaining enough for it to be worth mentioning here. Despite both fighters making technical errors on the mat, they put on a fun show.
