Renan Barao and Jose Aldo retained their belts at UFC 169, dominating respective opponents Urijah Faber and Ricardo Lamas. In doing so, the Nova Uniao teammates ensured that Brazil maintained multiple UFC championships.
While two title fights were contested on Saturday’s fight card, a pay-per-view opener between lightweights Abel Trujillo and Jamie Varner stole the show.
The 155-pound contest accounted for all fight night bonuses awarded at UFC 169. Here is a closer look at those awards and why Trujillo and Varner walked away with all the available bonus money over the weekend.
Fight of the Night
Winner: Abel Trujillo vs. Jamie Varner
Not all decisions are boring, but UFC 169 saw 10 fights go to the scorecards, and most of them were at least somewhat lackluster.
The bout between Trujillo and Varner was anything but lackluster, though.
It was an absolute brawl whenever both fighters were standing. Although Varner had to know Trujillo’s punching power was the biggest danger he’d face in the matchup, the MMA Lab fighter continually engaged in wild exchanges.
That led to a loss for Varner, but it at least earned him some extra cash.
Knockout of the Night
Winner: Abel Trujillo
In the second round, Varner had Trujillo retreating and rocked.
However, the Blackzilian showed off his chin and hung in there long enough to counter with a right hook that knocked Varner unconscious. Not only was it an early contender for comeback win of the year, but Trujillo’s pinpoint accuracy despite being hurt led to a brutal finish.
With Barao‘s stoppage of Faber being the only other knockout at UFC 169, Trujillo was almost guaranteed Knockout of the Night honors. Because Barao‘s finish did not come without controversy, Trujillo earned a second bonus, as there was no questioning his finish against Varner.
Submission of the Night
Winner: None
There were 12 bouts on the UFC 169 fight card. None of them ended in a submission.
It was the first time in 2014 that no Submission of the Night bonus was awarded. However, in December, no submissions were recorded at UFC Fight Night 33.
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