Yan and Sandhagen earned “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their co-main event bout at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. After five competitive rounds, Yan claimed the interim 135-pound belt with a unanimous decision triumph, setting up a title unification rematch with Aljamain Sterling at a future event.
Elsewhere, Glover Teixeira received a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check for his dominant win over Jan Blachowicz in the evening’s light heavyweight championship headliner. The 42-year-old Brazilian grounded his opponent in both the first and second rounds before eventually securing a rear-naked choke submission at the 3:02 mark of Round 2 for his sixth consecutive Octagon triumph.
Finally, welterweight prospect Khamzat Chimaev garnered the card’s other $50,000 “Performance of th…