The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was in Toronto, Ontario, Canada this past Saturday night (December 10, 2016) with UFC 206: Holloway vs. Pettis. The card produced arguably the most entertaining fight of the year, with 50 percent of bouts ending inside the distance. After the event concluded, the UFC awarded $50,000 to two fighters for ‘Performance of the Night’ and two fighters for ‘Fight of the Night’. The lines to wager on these props were available at Several Bookmakers. The post-fight bonus winners were… Cub Swanson and Doo Ho Choi earn Fight of the Night honors for their three-round war on the main card of the evening, and many are already dubbing it as the ‘Fight of the Year’ for 2016. Both 145-pounders had their moments in this contest, rocking and nearly finishing one another, but it was the veteran Swanson who had more of these moments throughout the 15 minutes of action. The California native ended up walking away with a unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards, ultimately making it three wins in a row for himself inside the Octagon and pocketing an extra 50k for his efforts. Choi got his first taste of professional mixed martial arts defeat, and fight fans anxiously await his next Octagon outing, as he certainly made a lot more of them in his losing effort. Noteworthy fight(s): – There were some good fights on this card but Swanson/Cho completely outshined all of them and became an instant classic. Max Holloway earns Performance of the Night for his third-round TKO of former UFC lightweight champion Anthony “Showtime” Pettis in one of his best performances to date. The Hawaiian became the first fighter to finish Pettis, and with the victory, became the UFC interim featherweight champion and will get a crack at Jose Aldo in an attempt to unify the belts. The impressive victory also put Holloway at 10 straight wins in the UFC’s featherweight division. Lando Vannata earns Performance of the Night for his first-round, spinning heel-kick knockout of John Makdessi, the first of its kind since Edson Barboza’s several years ago. It was an excellent way for “Groovy” to pick up his first UFC victory, and fight fans are certainly looking forward to his next outing inside the Octagon. Noteworthy Performance(s): – Donald Cerrone defeated Matt Brown via head-kick knockout in the begining of the third round of action to earn his fourth straight victory at 170 pounds, with all four of them coming by way of finish. I personally think this finish deserved the ‘Performance of the Night’ bonus more than Holloway’s, and the reason he is not getting it is because he upset the UFC by being part of the Mixed Martial Arts Athletes Association. There really is no other explanation for it, as Holloway’s TKO finish did not come remotely close to as good as Cerrone’s head-kick knockout. I think it’s safe to say that you’ll be seeing Cerrone’s finish on some highlight clips while seeing Holloway’s on none. – Kelvin Gastelum scored an upset third-round TKO of Tim Kennedy, and after securing a win at middleweight, he wants to move back down to the UFC’s welterweight division. The TUF 17 winner looked excellent both on the feet and on the mat in this contest, but it was ultimately his superior boxing and conditioning that made the difference, as he was able to keep hurting Kennedy until securing the fight ending finish in the third and final round of action. – Misha Cirkunov dropped Nikita Krylov with a punch in the opening frame of action, and then latched onto a guillotine choke to get the tap for the submission victory, making it four in a row for himself inside the Octagon, with all four victories coming by way of finish. – Olivier Aubin-Mercier dominated Drew Dober on the feet and when Dober took the fight to the mat in the second frame, OAB reversed position and ended up taking Dober’s back, eventually finding the rear-naked choke for the submission finish. He now enjoys two straight wins inisde the Octagon, with both wins coming by way of rear-naked choke submission.
