Cesar
Almeida rallied from the brink of defeat to author a very early
candidate for 2025 “Knockot of the Year.”
The 36-year-old Brazilian received a $50,000 “Performance of the
Night” bonus for his one-punch knockout of Abdul
Razak Alhassan in a featured middleweight bout at
UFC Vegas 101 on Saturday night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
After being rocked during an early exchange, Almeida kept his wits
and rendered his opponent unconscious with a vicious counter left
hook at the 4:16 mark of Round 1.
Elsewhere, Mackenzie
Dern garnered the evening’s other $50,000 “Performance of the
Night” award for her submission of Amanda
Ribas in the evening’s strawweight main event. After two
competitive rounds, Dern went to work in Round 3, methodically
working her way into position for an armbar to force the tap from
her Brazilian foe 4:56 into the period.
Finally, Roman
Kopylov and Chris
Curtis earned “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece
for their back-and-forth middleweight scrap. While both fighters
enjoyed success at different moments of the bout, Kopylov had the
last word when he floored Curtis with a head kick, prompting a
questionable stoppage 4:59 into the third stanza.