The UFC
Vegas 102 headliner was a fight of major momentum swings.
While the last of those belonged to Jared
Cannonier in a fourth-round technical knockout victory, both he
and opponent Gregory
Rodrigues received an additional $50,000 for their efforts. The
middleweight clash, which saw Cannonier recover from two
first-round knockdowns to put “Robocop” away 21 seconds into Round
4, was an easy choice for “Fight of the Night” honors on
Saturday.
Elsewhere, Edmen
Shahbazyan earned a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award
for his quick finish of Dylan Budka
in a featured middleweight clash. The Dana White’s Contender Series
alum sent his foe to the canvas with a perfectly-timed counter
right hand, then sealed his victory with a few follow-up strikes on
the floor 1:35 into the opening period.
Finally, Gabriel
Bonfim secured the evening’s other $50,000 “Performance of the
Night” check by putting Kalinn
Williams to sleep in their preliminary welterweight bout. The
Brazilian was able to lock in a brabo choke and render his
adversary unconscious at the 4:58 mark of Round 2.