UFC Fight Night 89 produced an entertaining night of action, with more than half of the match-ups ending inside the distance. 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. Steve Bosse and Sean O’Connell earn Fight of the Night honors for their their three round war on the main card for UFC Fight Night 89 in Bosse’s backyard of Ottawa. Both light heavyweights had their moments in the contest, with O’Connell hurting and dropping Bosse in the first round, and then the tables turning in the second with Bosse hurting and dropping O’Connell. Things appeared to be even heading into the third and final stanza, which was the closest round of all that again saw both fighters have their moments. O’Connell, while the more fatigued fighter, was getting the better of the exchanges on the feet and against the cage, but after the fight concluded, the judges at Octagon-side unanimously sided with the hometown favorite, Bosse. It was an incredible fight that was not expected to go the distance. Both 205-pounders had questionable chins but they displayed granite chins on Saturday night. Despite being on a two-fight skid and 2-4 in the UFC following this loss, I highly doubt the promotional will part ways with O’Connell. Other noteworthy fight(s): – Misha Cirkunov defeated promotional newcomer Ion Cutelaba via third round arm triangle choke submission in an entertaining light heavywight showdown. – Ali Bagautinov defeated Geane Herrera via unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards following three fun rounds of action. Herrera had his moments with his submission attempts, coming close to getting a finish, but the Dagestani fighter was in control for the majority of the contest, rolling with 30-27 scores on all three judges’ scorecards. Donald Cerrone earns Performance of the Night honors for his third round TKO of former UFC middleweight title challenger Patrick “The Predator” Cote, becoming the first fighter to put the French-Canadian away with strikes. It was a very impressive outing by Cerrone and arguably the best performance of his UFC career. Krzysztof Jotko earns Performance of the Night honors for his first round knockout of Tamdad McCrory on the evening’s televised preliminary card on FOX Sports 1. The Pole knocked McCrory out cold with one stiff left hand and followed up with a couple of unnecessary hammerfists on the canvas until the referee stepped in and called the action. Undoubtedly the most impressive performance of his career, Jotko sent a message to the UFC’s 185-pound division with that win and he will likely draw ranked opposition his next time out. Other noteworthy performances: – Olivier Aubin-Mercier defeated Thibault Gouti via third round rear naked choke submission. – Joanne Calderwood defeated Valerie LeTourneau via third round TKO in the most impressive performance of her professional mixed martial arts career. The bout made history as the first ever women’s flyweight contest in the UFC. – Misha Cirkunov’s aforementioned third round arm triangle choke of Moldovian promotional newcomer Ion Cutelaba. Cirkunov took Cutelaba to deep waters and put him away with the c choke in the final stanza, about as soon as he opted to take the fight to the canvas. – Joe Soto defeated Chris Beal via third round rear naked choke submission. Beal got the better of the striking in the first round, but fatigue began to set in in the second, where Soto started taking over. When he took the fight to the mat in the third and final stanza, it was only a matter of time. After going 0-3 in his first three outings inside the Octagon, Soto was lucky enought to get another chance and came out on top. – Colby Covington defeated promotional newcomer Jonathan Meunier via third round rear naked choke to bounce back into the win column following the first loss of his professional mixed martial arts career.
