Timur
Valiev and Raoni
Barcelos engaged in one of the evening’s most competitive
battles at
UFC Fight Night 190, and both men are now $50,000 richer for
their efforts.
Valiev and Barcelos received “Fight of the Night” honors for their
bantamweight clash on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Though
Barcelos scored the bout’s only two knockdowns in the second frame,
Valiev ultimately captured a narrow majority decision thanks to
superior volume and movement in Rounds 1 and 3.
Elsewhere, Kennedy
Nzechukwu earned a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award
thanks to a come-from-behind victory over Danilo
Marques at light heavyweight. After spending much of the first
two rounds fending off rear-naked choke attempts from his opponent,
the man known as “African Savage” put Marques away with a flurry of
punches 20 seconds into the final frame.
Finally, Marcin
Prachnio garnered the card’s other $50,000 “Performance of the
Night” check on the strength of a second-round knockout of Isaac
Villanueva in another light heavyweight affair. The Polish
fighter switched to a southpaw stance and buried his shin in his
opponent’s liver 56 seconds into Round 2, causing Villanueva to
double over in pain and bringing an instant end to the bout.