UFC’s trip to Florida on Saturday night was a little bit like flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson – short, exciting and way too underrated.
The nine-bout card had been pegged as one of those “we’ll have a fight night for the sake of it” events but its action
proved it to be one of the more entertaining cards in recent months.
Here are the lucky divils who have earned our appreciation this week.
Knockout of the night – Thiago Santos
Was there any real doubt that Marreta wouldn’t get this honour? Not only did Santos provide the best knockout of the night on Saturday but the 11-3 middleweight’s high-kick finish will feature on UFC highlight reels forever more.
Steve Bosse’s octagon debut was monumental but only for the way that he was knocked out cold than his ability to translate his hockey fighting skills to the biggest stage of mixed martial arts.
Submission of the night – Antonio Carlos Junior
Antonio Carlos Junior didn’t have much competition for this award considering he was the only fighter to win via submission in Hollywood but the quality of the submission would have made it a frontrunner for submission of the night on any card.
The Brazilian, who used to fight at heavyweight, looks a real prospect at 185lbs and he gave Eddie Gordon fits on the feet before dragging the fight to the mat and exhibiting the skills learned en route to his BJJ black belt with a patient rear naked choke.
Performance of the night – Lorenz Larkin
It was between the winners of the main and co-main event for the POTN award but we gave it to Lorenz Larkin just because he dominated proceedings from start to finish.
Santiago Ponzinibbio posed a genuine problem with his constant forward movement and pressure but Larkin picked him apart, showed strides of improvement in the striking department and got the well deserved finish.
One to watch – Antonio Carlos Junior
We were kind of stuck here just based on the fact that none of the younger fighters on the card really blew us away so lucky ol’ Antonio Carlos Junior gets two awards this morning.
He was thrown to the wolves a bit against Pat Cummins but he rebounded on Saturday and truly never looked to be in a position to lose against Eddie Truck Gordon on Saturday.
The Brazilian has only recently turned 25 and we’re expecting big things from the Nova Uniao fighter in the octagon.
