Check out our breakdown of the post-fight bonuses from UFC Fight Night: Volkan vs. Smith from Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.
The Avenir Centre in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, was home to a solid night of fights, with three (T)KOs, two submissions, and eight decisions, including one split-decision.
Fight of the Night: Nasrat Haqparast vs. Thibault Gouti
Thibault Gouti may have lost a lopsided decision to Nasrat Haqparast, but he proved he has heart in spades. Gouti was wobbled early in round one, but shook it off well and continued to take punch combinations with a durable chin while he landed a few of his own. Haqparast hit a lead left dropped Gouti, but Thibault quickly recovered and is soon landing heavy punches to close out the round.
The second saw Gouti land a couple hard rights, and then they just started throwing combo for combo, with Gouti really turning up the volume. Haqparast is countering everything thrown at him and then lands a hard front kick that seemed to take the wind out of Gouti’s sails. They continue throwing, and the horn signals the end of the round.
The final stanza saw the cracks start showing in Gouti’s fading game. Haqparast is landing punches in bunches and they are taking their toll. Nasrat throws a monster bodykick that caused Gouti to literally flee in pain. He finally goes down and Haqparast is instantly in his guard. Hammerfists are raining down on Gouti, but he manages to get up with about half a minute on the clock. Those last few seconds were an all-out brawl, but Haqparast was the clear winner here.
Nasrat Haqparast took the decision and they both grab the $50K for their tremendous efforts.
Performances of the Night: Anthony Smith and Don Madge
Volkan Oezdemir and Anthony Smith put on a fight of the night performance in the card’s main event. The bout was a back and forth kickboxing clinic for the most part, with Oezdemir’s powerful leg kicks and hard, looping punches colliding with Smith’s crisp technique and brutal flurries.
When the fight did hit the ground, it was clear Smith had the grappling advantage. Oezdemir had Smith turtled on the ground for a good bit in the second, but was unable to make anything happen. That’s in stark contrast to what happened when Smith got Oezdemir down in the third. It took seconds for him to take Oezdemir’s back, and he quickly locked in a rear naked choke and a nasty body triangle that was slowly squeezing the air out of “No Time.” Smith went for the hand on top of the head rather than behind, but it took Oezdemir vital seconds to realize he could fight the hand. When he did, Smith switched grips and finally got the tap at 4:25 of the third round.
Anthony Smith gets the submission win in round three and $50,000 to line his pockets with.
Don Madge came into this fight the underdog, but quickly proved he wasn’t to be taken lightly when an early right dropped Edwards. Te quickly used his wrestling to take Madge down. Then, Madge postures up and grabs a gnarly armbar that looked inescapable, but Edwards manages to escape. Madge’s grappling is slick and dangerous, but Edwards made it out of the first round.
The second opens with Don landing a body kick followed by a monster head kick that hurt Edwards. Then he launched a right high kick that sent Edwards straight to the Sandman.
Don Madge gets the straight KO win at :14 of round two and $50,000 for his participation in Edwards’ sleep study.