Well, UFC on Fox 10 provided us with another Benson Henderson fight, which ended in another controversial Henderson decision victory.
Close fights are becoming the norm for Henderson, who has won three of his past five fights via split decisions. On Saturday, the former UFC champion took advantage of an injured Josh Thomson to rally back on the scorecards in the later rounds.
Likely, main-event judging will steal the headlines following UFC on Fox 10. However, there were some great performances worth noting from the weekend’s fights in Chicago.
Here are the fighters who earned fight-night bonuses for their strong showings on Saturday.
Fight of the Night
Winner: Alex Caceres vs. Sergio Pettis
While the younger brother of lightweight champion Anthony Pettis received much of the attention heading into UFC on Fox 10, 25-year-old Alex Caceres proved he’s a rising bantamweight worthy of recognition as well.
Caceres went back and forth with Sergio Pettis for three rounds. Through the first two rounds, “Bruce Leeroy” landed only four fewer significant strikes than S. Pettis and scored a knockdown against the skilled striker who trains under former kickboxer Duke Roufus.
In the third stanza, Caceres turned it up. He landed as many total strikes in that round as he had in the first two frames combined before locking up a rear-naked choke with only 21 seconds remaining.
With all the twists and turns this matchup saw, it was a clear choice for Fight of the Night honors.
Knockout of the Night
Winner: Donald Cerrone
Daron Cruickshank’s spinning heel kick against Mike Rio looked to be a strong candidate to win Knockout of the Night at UFC on Fox 10. However, the prelim knockout didn’t hold up following Donald Cerrone’s nasty finish of Adriano Martins.
As soon as their bout started, Cerrone and Martins were ready to trade punches. Both men landed some solid shots early on, but the American began to gain control later on in the first round and blasted Martins with a head kick in the final minute of the stanza.
While Cruickshank’s stoppage required some follow-up strikes, “Cowboy” turned Martins’ lights out as soon as his shin landed on the Brazilian’s head.
Both knockouts were impressive, but Dana White and crew made a good decision to award Cerrone the knockout bonus. It was Cerrone’s third Knockout of the Night award since joining the UFC roster less than three years ago.
Submission of the Night
Winner: Alex Caceres
There was only one submission at UFC on Fox 10.
While grappling fans probably would have liked to see another submission or two, that was fine with Caceres, who took home the Submission of the Night award in addition to his portion of the Fight of the Night bonus.
In the third round of his bout with S. Pettis, Caceres expertly took his opponent’s back and locked in a rear-naked choke with only 21 seconds remaining in the contest. Had Caceres not forced a tap, it was very possible he would have lost on the scorecards.
Caceres now has two Submission of the Night awards.
Statistics via FightMetric.com.
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