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Check out which fighters won performance bonuses from UFC on ESPN: Kattar vs. Ige
The Flash Forum on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE was home to a solid night of fights at UFC Fight Night: Kattar vs. Ige. The card saw two (T)KOs, three submissions and six decisions.
The undercard delivered in a big way right from the start with Jack Shore getting a second-round submission over Aaron Phillips. The action picked even more steam when Liana jojua scored a sweet armbar submission over Diana Belbita. Jared Gordon dominated Chris Fishgold from start to finish, all while being cornered by Paul Felder, who performed dual tasks tonight (commentary and cornerman). Lerone Murphy ended Ricardo Ramos’ night before the end of the first round with a nice TKO, and to round out the prelims, Khamzat Chimaev defeated John Phillips via D’Arce choke.
The main card saw the return of Abdul Razak Alhassan after a two-plus year absence, and while the fight was a very entertaining scrap, Alhassan was beaten via unanimous decision by newcomer Mounir Lazzez. “Meatball” Molly McCann ended up getting outclassed by Taila Santos in another fun fight, loaded with scrambles and submission attempts. Jimmie Rivera looked razor sharp against Cody Stamann, landing plenty of crispy combos and hard leg kicks against an almost timid opponent and taking a unanimous decision for his effort. After a tentative first few minutes of attacking an invisible man in between them, Tim Elliott and Ryan Benoit put on an outstanding back-and-forth battle that saw both men go for broke both on the ground and the feet, but it was Tim Elliott that took the unanimous decision.
The headliner was a grinder with close rounds through the third, but with Ige having sustained significantly more damage. Kattar started pulling ahead in the championship rounds, clearly having the better cardio throughout. When the final horn sounded, Ige was on his back with Kattar showering him with the gift of fists. Ige would come up short on the cards and Kattar likely added his name to the list of title contenders.
Performance of the Night: Lerone Murphy, Khamzat Chimaev, Modestas Bukauskas
Jack Shore (rear naked choke at 2:29 of Round 2), Liana Jojua (armbar at 2:23 of Round 1), Modestas Baukauskas (TKO (elbows) Round 1 5:00), Lerone Murphy (TKO (punches), 4:18 of round 1), and Khamzat Chimaev (D’Arce choke, 1:12 of round 2) all finished their respective fights inside the distance, but it would be Lerone Murphy, Khamzat Chimaev, and Modestas Bukauskas that would take home $50K.
Fight of the Night: Abdul Razak Alhassan* vs. Mounir Lazzez (*Alhassan not eligible due to missed weight)
Jared Gordon (30-26×3), Mounir Lazzez (30-27, 30-27, 29-28), Taila Santos (30-27, 30-27, 30-27), Jimmie Rivera (30-27, 30-27, 29-28), Tim Elliott (29-28, 29-28, 29-28), and Calvin Kattar (49-46, 49-46, 48-47) all saw their fights to completion, but Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Mounir Lazzez took FOTN honors, although Alhassan forfeited his bonus thanks to missing weight.