UFC Vegas 103 was an entertaining affair with four fighters
earning bonuses.
Manel
Kape (20-7) earned an extra $50K Performance of the Night bonus
for a stoppage over Asu
Almabayev (21-3) in the flyweight headliner. Kape thoroughly
outstruck Almabayev from the opening bell, never allowing the
Kazakh to implement his wrestling. “Starboy” eventually delivered
too much damage on Almabayev, forcing the referee to step in at
2:16 of the third round, ending his undefeated streak that dated
back to 2017. However, the Angolan seemingly scraped Almabayev
twice in the left eye, which went unpenalized.
The second POTN bonus went to undefeated heavyweight debutant
Mario
Pinto (10-0) for his knockout win over Austen Lane
(13-6). Pinto got dropped by Lane in the opening frame before
rallying back to put the former football defensive end to sleep
with a left hook-straight right combo early in the second
round.
Meanwhile, Morocco’s Nasrat
Haqparast (18-5) and Argentina’s Esteban
Ribovics (14-2) gained an extra $50K each for the Fight of the
Night. Haqparast and Ribovics went toe-to-toe in a technical
masterclass that must have been a judges’ nightmare to score.
Hasparast walked away with a razor-thin split decision with two of
the judges giving him the first two rounds.