UFC 209 Bonuses: Elkins, Alcantara Bank $50,000 For Comebacks
UFC 209 emanated from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas tonight (Saturday, March 4, 2017). The headlining welterweight title rematch was disappointing – tactical, perhaps, but definitely not entertaining. But that was not a concern in the lightweight co-main event.
No, it was Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson, but Lando Vannata and David Teymur put on a heck of a show. The two kickboxers went at each other for the full 15 minutes. Vannata’s flowy, unorthodox, spin-centric striking didn’t garner him the knockout this time around, and he paid the price. The technical Teymur unleashed a steady diet of punches and kicks mixed in with some flash of his own – he landed a Superman punch at one point. But Vannata’s ridiculous chin held up. Still, Teymur came away with a unanimous decision, and both men are $50,000 richer for putting on the Fight of the Night.
Another easy contender for that honor goes to Darren Elkins staging an incredible comeback on super prospect Mirsad Bektic. Bektic took Elkins down in the first and opened up a gnarly cut above his right eye that left Elkin’s face a bloody mess for the rest of the fight. Bektic lit Elkins up on the feet while manhandling him in the wrestling exchanges for much of the first ten minutes. Elkins turned the tide quickly and decisively in the third. He
Elkins turned the tide quickly and decisively in the third. He stuffed a takedown and put pressure on Bektic as he tried to return to his feet against the cage. There Elkins met him with two right hands that put Bektic in dire straits, and a third folded him in a heap. Elkins was the biggest underdog on the card by a wide margin, but he’ll take home an extra $50,000 for Performance of the Night.
Iuri Alcantara authored a similar come-from-behind victory. Luke Sanders smashed the Brazilian with hellacious ground and pound from the back in the opening frame, nearly earning the stoppage. He got the position again in the second, but this time Alcantara rolled under for a leg. Trapped against the fence, Sanders couldn’t extricate himself, and he was forced to tap when Alcantara went belly-down to finish the kneebar. He, like Elkins, came up smiling while his face was matted with blood. The Brazilian will bank an extra $50,000 for slick submission victory.
Keep it locked to LowKickMMA for all your UFC 209 post-fight coverage.
