UFC Fight Night 28 did not start out promising. The preliminary card rocked most fans to sleep with it’s hold-’em-against-the-cage, don’t-provide-much-action type of fights.
Luckily, the main card changed that. In fact, all three of the traditional fight night bonuses went to men on the main card Wednesday night in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
There were six fights on the main card, and only one went to decision. We saw four brutal knockouts and a nasty submission. Through it all, the main card had some entertaining fights.
Let’s recap the fight night bonuses, as given out by the UFC.
Fight of the Night: Rafael Natal vs. Tor Troeng
There was no doubt in my mind what would win Fight of the Night. The prelims were trash, and most of the fights on the main card were first-round finishes.
There was one fight that went the distance and was fun to watch for all 15 minutes: Tor Troeng vs. Rafael Natal.
On the feet, Natal’s power punches were the difference-maker. On multiple occasions, even though there weren’t many exchanges on the feet, Natal rocked the Swede with some nasty punches. In fact, he dropped him badly twice that I can recall.
On the ground, we saw a competitive, back-and-forth grappling match. Many thought the BJJ black belt in Natal would dominate, but we saw sweeps, submission attempts, scrambles and transitions throughout that made the grappling match an enjoyable watch.
Both men rightfully deserved the $50,000 they earned.
Submission of the Night: Piotr Hallmann
If there was an Upset of the Night award, Piotr Hallmann would have doubled up. However, I think only nabbing the Submission of the Night award will be just fine for the Polish debutee.
Hallmann struggled striking in the first round, getting hurt on multiple occasions with body kicks. Many people were surprised he even made it out of the first round.
Then in the second, Hallmann got the upper hand by getting on top from a takedown. This surprised many, but what ensued was even more shocking.
The Polish product slapped on a kimura at the end of the round and cranked like there was no tomorrow. He secured the tapout and edged out Lucas Martins for the $50,000 SOTN award.
Knockout of the Night: Glover Teixeira
It was competitive until the finish, but the Knockout of the Night went to main event winner Glover Teixeira.
Beating out Ali Bagautinov, Joseph Benavidez and Ronaldo Souza, Teixeira impressed for several reasons.
First, Teixeira’s knockout came on the verge of getting rocked himself. Ryan Bader slammed him with some powerful right hands, but just as the American was about to open up with more punches, Teixeira nailed a lightning combination that rocked Bader‘s socks.
Glover smelled the blood, pounced and finished off his adversary. A controversial choice taking Teixeira over Souza, but it definitely made sense given the circumstances.
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