Marvin
Vettori wasn’t originally expected to be in the
UFC on ESPN 19 headliner, but his presence was profitable for
both himself and Jack
Hermansson.
Vettori and Hermansson received “Fight of the Night” honors and
$50,000 apiece for an entertaining five-round middleweight affair
at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Vettori very nearly
ended the fight in Round 1 after dropping Hermansson, but the
“Joker” recovered to make the remaining 20 minutes interesting.
Ultimately, “The Italian Dream” emerged with a unanimous decision
triumph.
Elsewhere, Gabriel
Benitez garnered a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” paycheck
thanks to a first-round stoppage of Justin
Jaynes in a featured lightweight encounter. Benitez sent Jaynes
to the canvas with a powerful step-in knee and finished the contest
with follow-up strikes 4:06 into Round 1.
Finally, Jordan
Leavitt earned a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award for a
memorable Octagon debut against Matt Wiman.
Early on, Leavitt shot for a double-leg takedown, picked his foe up
and slammed him hard to the canvas, knocking Wiman unconscious 22
seconds into Round 1. It was just the 12th KO via slam in UFC
history.