UFC Fight Night 119 took place Saturday in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where Derek Brunson’s quick finish of Lyoto Machida has made him $50,000 richer.
Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida was making his return to the promotion at UFC Sao Paulo after an eighteen month suspension handed down by USADA. Unlike many USADA cases, Machida did not fail a drug test. Instead, he openly declared use of a substance that happened to be banned — later stating he had no idea 7-keto-DHEA was not permitted under USADA regulations.
The former light heavyweight champion’s big return was spoiled, however, by the left hand of Derek Brunson. After losing to Brazilian legend Anderson Silva earlier this year, Brunson made no mistake in what will likely be his final bout of 2017. A left hook, and follow-up lefts, finished the night for Machida within a round. For his efforts, Brunson picked up one of two Performance of the Night bonuses.
The other Performance of the Night bonus was awarded to Pedro Munhoz for his guillotine finish of Rob Font. The submission victory marked the ninth of Munhoz’s career, and sixth via guillotine. That’s an impressive number, and puts the Brazilian bantamweight on a four fight win streak.
Fight of the Night honors, meanwhile, went to Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos and Max Griffin for their preliminary card war. The middleweights slugged it out early, with Griffin a hair’s width away from being finished in the first round. He was saved by the bell, and the pair would ultimately go the distance, with dos Santos picking up the decision victory.
All four fighters received the standard UFC bonus of $50,000 for their efforts.
