Tai
Tuivasa made sure Ciryl Gane
knew he had been in a fight, and that paid dividends for both
men.
Gane and Tuivasa received “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000
apiece for their heavyweight clash in the
UFC Fight Night 209 headliner on Saturday at Accor Arena in
Paris. Gane appeared to be cruising to victory when Tuivasa floored
the Frenchman with a massive right hand in the second stanza. “Bon
Gamin” would recover, however, and he rallied to put his Australian
foe away with a salvo of powerful punches 4:23 into Round 3.
Elsewhere, promotional newcomer Abusupiyan
Magomedov earned a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check for
making short work of Dustin
Stoltzfus in a preliminary middleweight bout. The PFL veteran
rocked his foe with a front kick at the outset of the fight and
swarmed with follow-up punches for a technical knockout victory
just 19 seconds into Round 1 — the fourth-fastest finish for a
debuting fighter in UFC history.
Finally, Benoit St.
Denis garnered the card’s other $50,000 “Fight of the Night”
bonus thanks to TKO win over Bruno
Miranda in a preliminary lightweight tilt. The Frenchman
floored his adversary three times, the last of which set the stage
for the stoppage just 16 seconds into Round 2.