When all is said and done, Khamzhat Chimaev and Gilbert
Burns may have locked up “Fight of the Year.”
For now, the two welterweights will have to settle for “Fight of
the Night” and $50,000 apiece following their memorable slugfest at
UFC
273 on Saturday night at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in
Jacksonville, Fla. Chimaev, one of the most heavily-hyped talents
in recent memory, passed the most significant test of his career to
date with a unanimous decision triumph over Burns, a former No. 1
contender at 170 pounds.
Meanwhile, reigning featherweight king Alexander
Volkanovski pocketed a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus
for a dominant performance against Chan Sung
Jung in the evening’s main event. The City Kickboxing
representative battered Jung all over the Octagon before a pair of
right hands had “The Korean Zombie” essentially out on his feet for
a technical knockout stoppage 45 seconds into Round 4.
Finally, veteran submission specialist Alexey
Oleynik earned the card’s other $50,000 “Performance of the
Night” award by virtue of a first-round tapout of Jared
Vanderaa in a preliminary heavyweight affair. After surviving
some early adversity, the 44-year-old Russian rallied to submit
Vanderaa with a scarf hold at the 3:39 mark of the opening
stanza.