‘The Last Style Bender’ Israel Adesanya and Riddell vs. Mullarkey were among the bonus winners at UFC 243 in Melbourne, Australia.
UFC 243 was a stadium show that lacked star power, outside of the main event. An injury to Holly Holm didn’t help matters, but even then, the PPV card lacked a selling point outside the title unification fight in the headliner. That bout saw Robert Whittaker face Israel Adesanya at long last — and it did not disappoint. A second round knockout by Adesanya cemented his status as one of the biggest stars in the promotion, and it secured him a Performance of the Night bonus as the icing on the cake.
It was a lesser known pairing, however, that took home Fight of the Night honors. Brad Riddell and Jamie Mullarkey was a fight that had flown mostly under the radar since Cageside Press broke the news of it’s inclusion on the UFC 243 card. When the octagon door closed, however, Riddell and Mullarkey turned out to be a barn burner. Both men landed heavy shots, but as the fight wore on, it was Riddell turning up the heat. Mullarkey ate an insane amount of punishment, but refused to be put away, gutting it out to the final bell.
The FOTN? Pretty obvious!@RiddellQuake & @Jamie_Mullarkey take home an extra 50k at #UFC243!
B2YB @ToyoTires pic.twitter.com/3bmM3IDdtO
— UFC (@ufc) October 6, 2019
Zero surprise, then, that Riddell vs. Mullarkey earned the FOTN. The final Performance of the Night bonus, meanwhile, was handed out to debuting heavyweight Yoargan de Castro, who knocked out Justin Tafa to open the PPV card.
All four bonus-winning fighters will earn $50,000 USD for their efforts.
