The main card of UFC Fight Night 91 in Sioux Falls, SD on a Wednesday night ended up being more exciting for many fans than was the main event of UFC 200. And not because the UFC 200 main event was terrible, at all, but rather because UFN 91 was very awesome, most notably the co-main event.
The unheralded, formerly undefeated Lando Vannata made his UFC debut by stepping up a weight division on two weeks notice to fight #3 ranked light weight Tony Ferguson. And Vannata gave El Cucuy? hell in the first, before eventually getting tapped in Round 2.
To fight the No. 3 guy on two weeks’ notice and drop him a couple times, and do as well as I did, yeah, there’s a little moral victory in there, said Vannata post fight to MMAjunkie.
I feel good right now. I’m a little upset with my performance – I let my emotions get the better of me. But I feel all right. In the first round, I was clear-headed and I was executing my game plan. I was moving well. In the second round, I started pushing him back a little bit, and beginning to control the pace, and I let my ego get in the way. I got caught up in the brawl, and I started walking forward with my hands down, not moving my head, [not] moving my feet. And I paid the price for it.
Vannata was also paid a price – the pair each won an extra $50,000 Fight of the Night performance bonus.
