Abdul Razak Alhassan and Mounir Lazzezput on a 15-minute fireworks display to kick of the main card of UFC on ESPN 13 on Wednesday night.
Both competitors dished it out as good as they could give it, but Lazzez (9-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) weathered Alhassan’s strongest flurries at the outset and then found his pace, slowly turning the fight into his favor before winning a unanimous decision.
The entertaining display in Abu Dhabi was enough to earn the bout “Fight of the Night.” But there’s a twist. Alhassan missed weight Tuesday, coming in at 174 pounds for a scheduled welterweight fight. And that meant only Lazzez will take home an extra $50,000 from the fight.
Alhassan’s mistake opened the way for three “Performance of the Night” awards, and as it turned out, there were plenty of those to go around.
Earning $50,000 for “POTN”:
- Lerone Murphy (9-0-1 MMA, 1-0-1 UFC), who stayed unbeaten with a first-round upset TKO of Ricardo Ramos in a featherweight fight.
- Highly touted Khamzat Chimaev (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who lived up to the hype with his second-round finish of John Phillips as a short-notice replacement at middleweight.
- Modestas Bukauskas (11-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who stopped Andreas Michailidis after the first round with a TKO in their undercard bout.
UFC on ESPN 13 was held at Flash Forum at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. It aired on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+.
