The Octagon returned to London for tonight’s UFC 286 event, a fifteen-bout fight card headlined by Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman 3.
Tonight’s highly anticipated welterweight title fight proved to be a thrilling five-round affair. Leon Edwards able to land a plethora of kicks throughout the twenty-five-minute contest, battering the lead leg of the former champion. Kamaru Usman was able to earn four takedowns in the bout, but never really was able to do much with the positions. Although ‘Rocky’ had a point deducted, he still did enough to emerge victorious on the judges’ scorecards.
The co-main event of UFC 286 featured a key lightweight bout featuring Justin Gaethje taking on Rafael Fiziev. The contest resulted in the thrilling back and forth affair that most fans and analysts were anticipating. Rafael Fiziev got the better of Justin Gaethje in round one, but ‘The Highlight’ responded with a strong second round. The final five minutes saw Fiziev get bloodied up with punches and Gaethje land the first takedown of his UFC career.
Following the conclusion of tonight’s event, UFC officials announced at the post-fight press conference that four fighters would be taking home performance bonuses.
Fight of the night: Lightweight fighters Justin Gaethje and Rafael Fiziev earned FOTN honors for their thrilling war in tonight’s UFC 286 co-main event. Gaethje won the contest by majority decision (29-28 x2, 28-28).
Performance of the night: Gunnar Nelson earned an extra $50k for his first-round submission victory over Bryan Barberena (see that here). ‘Gunni’ forced ‘Bam Bam’ to tapout with a nasty armbar.
Performance of the night: Jake Hadley pocketed an extra $50k for his first-round TKO victory over Malcolm Gordon on today’s prelims.
Are you surprised by any of the performance bonuses handed out by Dana White and company following the conclusion of tonight’s UFC 286 event in London? Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!
