Jamie
Mullarkey and Michael
Johnson kicked off the
UFC on ESPN 39 main card with a bang, and they were compensated
accordingly for their efforts.
Mullarkey and Johnson received “Fight of the Night” honors and
$50,000 apiece for their lightweight battle at the UFC Apex in Las
Vegas on Saturday night. Johnson scored the only knockdown of the
bout early in Round 1, but Mullarkey recovered to mount a rally and
hurt “The Menace” later in the frame. From there, both men traded
liberally for the rest of the fight, but it was Mullarkey who
emerged with a split-decision triumph.
Meanwhile, Rafael
Fiziev pocketed $50,000 for his fifth-round technical knockout
victory against ex-lightweight champ Rafael dos
Anjos in the evening’s main event. After four hard-fought
frames, Fiziev floored his opponend with a left hook and sealed his
victory with one standing-to-ground punch 18 seconds into the
period for his sixth consecutive triumph.
Finally, Chase
Sherman garnered the card’s other $50,000 “Performance of the
Night” bonus thanks to a stoppage of Jared
Vanderaa in a heavyweight slugfest. After two rounds of trading
blows, Sherman picked up the intensity of his assault in the final
frame, forcing Vanderaa to wilt under a barrage of punches 3:10
into Round 3.