TUF 27 Finale Bonuses: Adesanya Banks $50,000 For Breakout Win
“The Ultimate Fighter 27” Finale emanated tonight (Friday, July 6, 2018) from the Pearl Theatre in Paradise, Nevada, and was headlined by a middleweight showcase between fast-rising Israel Adesanya and longtime divisional stalwart Brad Tavares. Adesanya passed the stiffest test of his career in emphatic fashion, battering Tavares for the better part of 25 minutes. Despite not garnering a finish, the display “The Last Stylebender” put on was impressive enough to earn him a Performance of the Night bonus and an extra $50,000.
The other Performance of the Night went to a lightweight competitor from TUF who was eliminated from the tournament by injury during taping. Luis Pena won his quarterfinal bout, but a broken foot took him out of action for the remainder of the show. He returned healthy to battle Richie Smullen, also eliminated by injury (before he even fought). “”Violent Bob Ross” beat up Smullen on the feet, dropped him, then jumped on to finish the fight by first-round guillotine choke. He won’t leave the competition the “Ultimate Fighter”, but he’s still undefeated and now $50,000 richer.
Finally, the Fight of the Night went to longtime UFC action fighter Alex Caceres and former TUF Latin America winner Martin Bravo. Caceres still does not deal well with pressure, tiring and getting tagged more and more as the fight went on, but he had a lot of success early on the forward-moving Bravo. “Bruce Leeroy” dropped Bravo in round two and rocked him badly a second time, but the Mexican scrapper persevered. Bravo took it to Caceres in round three but still ate plenty of return fire in the process. Both men somehow heard the final horn, and Caceres was awarded with a split decision victory to even his UFC record at 9-9. Both he and Bravo will leave Las Vegas tomorrow $50,000 richer for their efforts.
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