The Octagon returned to Brazil for tonight’s UFC Sao Paulo event, an eleven-bout fight card headlined by Jailton Almeida vs. Derrick Lewis.
The highly anticipated heavyweight main event resulted in a dominant performance for the hometown favorite. Jailton Almeida was able to take Derrick Lewis down early and often, passing to the full mount position with ease. However, despite having control and dominant positions throughout the contest, the Brazilian was unable to score a finish. Almeida attempted multiple submission attempts, but Lewis showed impressive defense and resolve to go the entire twenty-five minutes.
UFC Sao Paulo was co-headlined by a welterweight matchup featuring Gabriel Bonfim taking on Nicolas Dalby. The bout proved to be a thrilling back and forth affair. The welterweight standouts got out to a frantic start, trading bombs in the pocket. Bonfim eventually took the fight to the floor and proceeded to close out the opening round in dominant fashion. However, in round two, Dalby stormed back after applying relentless pressure mixed with flurries of strikes. After landing a big elbow and the hard knee, Bonfim hit the canvas where he was quickly finished off with ground and pound.
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: Welterweight fighters Nicolas Dalby and Gabriel Bonfim earned ‘Fight of the Night’ honors for their thrilling war in tonight’s UFC Sao Paulo co-main event. Dalby won the bout by second-round TKO.
Performance of the night: Elves Brener pocket an extra $50k for his first-round knockout victory over Kaynan Kruschewsky in tonight’s main card opener. (see that here).
Performance of the night: Vitor Petrino earned an extra $50k for his first-round knockout victory over Modestas Bukauskas on tonight’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 Sao Paulo event? Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!
