UFC Fight Night 85 produced a solid night of mixed martial arts action from Brisbane, Australia. 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. UFC Fight Night 85’s Post-Fight Bonus-Award winners were… Jake Matthews and Johnny Case earn Fight of the Night honors for their near-three round battle on the main card of this past weekend’s UFC Fight Night 85 in Brisbane, Australia. Matthews was down two rounds on the judges’ scorecards heading into the third and needed the finish. He got the better of Case in the third and eventually finished him with a rear naked choke with only seconds remaining in the contest. It was an impressive victory for “The Celtic Kid” and it came in come-from-behind fashion, though the first two rounds were fairly close. This was a fun fight and I think the fact that Matthews was able to secure the late finish sealed the deal on the fight taking the honors. Noteworthy fight(s): – Bec Rawlings defeated Seeheo Ham via unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards following three rounds of closely contested action. It was a fun fight that saw both ladies have their moments, but Rawlings seemed to edge it out, and the support of the hometown Australian crowd helped her, as well. – Ross Pearson and Chad Laprise went to war for three rounds on the Fight Pass prelims of the card, with Pearson ultimately edging out a split decision victory. It was a real barn-burner in the UFC’s lightweight division and both 155-pounders certainly had their moments. It was a very tight fight that could have gone either way. I personally scored it for Laprise, but by no means could I say he was robbed. Pearson vs Laprise was a very fun scrap and fight fans look forward to seeing both of these lightweights back in action inside the Octagon. Mark Hunt earns Performance of the Night for his first round, walk-off knockout of Frank Mir. It was a classic Hunt knockout and makes for another highlight to his extensive reel. Neil Magny earns Performance of the Night for his third round, come-from-behind TKO of former Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard. The Cuban fighter badly hurt Magny in the first round and the fight could have easily been stopped but the referree gave Magny the benefit of the doubt, and it ultimately benefited Magny, as he is the fighter of the two with much superior cardio. Lombard gassed himself out looking for the finish and did not have much left heading into the second round. He managed to hurt and drop Magny again, but was again unable to finish and Magny ended up turning the tables. He mounted the Cuban on the mat and rained some ground and pound, but the referree also gave Lombard the benefit of the doubt and allowed him to see the third round. It was all Neil Magny in the third and final round of action, as it did not take long for him to find himself in dominant position on the mat again, where he continued where he left off at the end of the second round, and the referee was forced to step in and call the action, giving Magny his third straight victory inside the Octagon and making him 10-1 in his last 11 bouts with the promotion. Noteworthy Performances: – Jake Matthews’ aforementioned third round rear naked choke submission win over Johnny “Hollywood” Case. – Dan Kelly defeated heavily favored Brazilian Antonio Carlos Junior by third round TKO in impressive, come-from-behind fashion. – Steve Bosse made quick work of veteran James Te-Huna, defeating him via knockout early in the very first round of action. – Alan Jouban returned to the win column by taking out Brendan O’Reilly via TKO in the first stanza – Dan Hooker submitted Mark Eddiva via high-elbow guillotine choke early in the first round of their featherweight contest.
