Pride legend and former UFC champ Shogun Rua returned to form at UFC Adelaide, and was among the night’s bonuses winners for his finish of Tyson Pedro.
The second of back-to-back UFC events over the weekend saw the promotion head across the globe. UFC Adelaide (UFC Fight Night 142 for those keeping count) brought heavyweight thunder down under, with a card topped by Junior Dos Santos vs. Tai Tuivasa, and featuring the last walk to the octagon for Mark Hunt.
None of those names, however, cashed in when it came time to dish out the bonuses at the end of the night. One legend, however, did. Shogun Rua turned back the clock in Adelaide, surviving an early clash of heads that had him rocked and eating bombs from Tyson Pedro. It felt like it was about to be a short night for Shogun, but somehow, the former light heavyweight champion and Pride veteran held on. Not only that, he dominated the second round on the ground. When Pedro limped into the third on a bum leg, Shogun pounced, knocking the younger man down and battering him with ground and pound.
Fighting twice in a year for the first time since 2014, Rua looked like the Shogun of old. He’s now won 4 of his last 5, and remains a top ten talent in one of the promotion’s thinnest divisions.
For his efforts, Shogun earned his first ever Performance of the Night bonus (he was previously awarded two Knockout of the Night awards, prior to the UFC restructuring their bonus system).
Capturing the other Performance bonus at UFC Adelaide was Sodiq Yusuff, making a huge impression in his promotional debut just a week after the death of his older brother. Yusuff finished Suman Mokhtarian with a flurry of strikes early in the first round of their featherweight battle.
💰 50Gs 💰
FOTN: @KaiKaraFrance vs Garcia
POTN: @ShogunRua & @Super_Sodiq pic.twitter.com/Q7E4Ztb35S
— UFC (@ufc) December 2, 2018
Fight of the Night, meanwhile, went to Kai Kara-France and Elias Garcia. Kara-France battled back from an early knockdown, dominating Garcia for the remainder of the fight. But Garcia, who had several scares, refused to be finished.
All four bonuses winners at UFC Adelaide will earn $50,000 for their efforts.
