In a night packed with exciting finishes, Rob Font and Ricky Simon’s three-round war stood out as the clear front-runner for Fight of the Night. Font and Simon exchanged back and forth early and it continued throughout. Neither were ever in real danger of being finished, but Font was just a bit more active and accurate.
It’s Font’s second consecutive win and third in his last four, including wins over Simon, Sergio Pettis and Thomas Almeida. It’s an impressive resume as Font has solidified himself as an upper echelon fighter among the bantamweights. A high-ranked opponent would be a reasonable request but Font isn’t concerned with that at the moment, as he just wants to get back in the Octagon as soon as possible.
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Performance Bonus
Bryce Mitchell
Many in the arena and watching at home were wondering what they had just seen when Bryce Mitchell made Matt Sayles submit on Saturday night. There’s no humility in questioning what type of submission Mitchell had just pulled off – his Twister finish was just the second in UFC history (Chan Sung Jung was the first in 2011).
Apparently it wasn’t Mitchell’s first time seeing this difficult, rare submission.
“Where I’m from that’s common,” Mitchell said. “That’s just another tool in the arsenal. It’s something I practice a lot.”
The win helped Mitchell remain a perfect 3-0 in the UFC.
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Makhmud Muradov
Makhmud Muradov may be considered an Octagon rookie on paper, but his two UFC performances to date prove otherwise.
Muradov landed a walk-off knock out against veteran Trevor Smith in Washington D.C. Smith’s mouthguard went flying and he instantly went out before falling to the canvas. In his debut just a few months earlier, Muradov defeated another UFC veteran, Alessio Di Chiricio.
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Around The Card
Jairzino Rozenstruik delivered on the hype, sort of. Rozenstruik and Alistair Overeem’s main event was met with boos throughout a majority of the five-round bout, with Overeem up 4-0 on the judges' scorecards entering the final round. And then, with just four seconds left, Rozenstruik delivered what will likely be one of the viral clips of 2019.
Rozenstruik landed a monstrous right hand that split the lip of Overeem and the fight was called instantly. It’s one of the nastier wounds you’ll ever see in the Octagon.
Aspen Ladd got back on track in finishing Yana Kunitskaya. Ladd suffered her first loss to Germaine de Randamie a few months ago and de Randamie proceeded to earn a title fight against Amanda Nunes (next week at UFC 245). Ladd avenged the missed opportunity in dominant fashion. She’s now 9-1.
