From the opening bout of the evening, it was already apparent it would be tough competition for performance bonuses as fight after fight ended in spectacular finishes. The “Road to UFC” finalists in particular stepped up and got audiences hyped for the rescheduled main event by the big men: Derrick Lewis and Serghei Spivac, while commentator Laura Sanko knocked it out of the park in her debut from the desk.
Performance of the Night: Serghei Spivac
Some folks were surprised when Spivac opened as a heavy betting favorite in his first main event against the all-time UFC knockout leader Lewis, but he only needed only three minutes and five seconds to demonstrate why they shouldn’t have been. The Moldovan secured his third consecutive win on the strength of a game plan that never let Lewis get his bearings, dropping “The Black Beast” again and again until he was in position to secure the submission – and his first UFC performance bonus.
Performance of the Night: Tatsuro Taira
Exemplifying the wisdom that “patience is a virtue,” Tatsuro Taira carefully waited out an extended choke hold from opponent Jesus Aguilar that began at the opening bell. Once Aguilar’s arms burned out, Taira escaped and got busy extending his undefeated winning streak in swift and decisive fashion, executing just the 10th triangle armbar finish in UFC history.
Performance of the Night: Rinya Nakamura
Commentator John Gooden correctly noted that Rinya Nakamura was fighting “like a man possessed” just seconds before he iced Toshiomi Kazama with a clean KO that was followed by an exclamation point to the head of his opponent before the referee could step in. At a mere 33 seconds, it was the second fastest debut finish in UFC bantamweight history.
Performance of the Night: Anshul Jubli
Just the second UFC fighter to ever hail from India, Anshul Jubli soared to victory over Jeka Saragih on the strength of a relentless grappling game that found him raining down bombs from the top position in the second round. Your new lightweight winner of the “Road to UFC” tournament secures his UFC contract while keeping his undefeated MMA record intact.
This story first published at UFC.com.
