Leon Edwards did just enough to outlast Kamaru Usman in their trilogy fight and hold onto his UFC welterweight title earlier tonight (Sat., Mar. 18, 2023) at UFC 286 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside The O2 in London, England. The co-main event of the evening saw former interim UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje bloody Rafael Fiziev for a majority decision (scorecard HERE).
In addition the main event trilogy bout, UFC 286 made good on the promotion’s return to London. From highlight-reel knockouts to back-and-forth wars, the card delivered from top to bottom. Check out some of the memorable performances below:
- Jake Hadley pushed his UFC record to 2-1 with a brutal body punch TKO over flyweight veteran Malcolm Gordon (highlights HERE)
- Undefeated flyweight prospect Muhammad Mokaev punched his ticket to the top 15 with a third-round submission finish over Jafel Filho (see HERE)
- A matchup of debuting lightweights ended with a 75-second knockout at the hands of Yanal Ashmoz
- Jack Shore made a memorable featherweight debut with a second-round submission finish over Makwan Amirkhani
- Welterweight contender Gunnar Nelson scored his first submission finish since 2018 with an armbar stoppage over Bryan Barberena (watch HERE)
In order to sift through the action and see which fighters took home a cool $50,000, we take a closer look at the official UFC 286 post-fight bonus winners below:
Fight of the Night: Justin Gaethje vs. Rafael Fiziev
Performance of the Night: Jake Hadley
Performance of the Night: Gunnar Nelson
For complete UFC 286 results and coverage click here.