Once again, there was no Fight of the Night awarded at UFC on ESPN 10. For the second straight week, the UFC instead opted to hand out four Performance of the Night awards, recognizing individual efforts. In this case, the big winners were Tyson Nam, Christian Aguilera, Mariya Agapova, and Marvin Vettori.
For Vettori (15-4-1), it’s the icing on the cake. What the Italian really wanted was simply to fight, as he’d had cancellations dating back to March. On top of that, he wanted to get his hands on Karl Roberson, after Roberson missed weight for their fight — twice. The bout was originally scheduled for UFC Jacksonville last month, but after his miss at the scales, by 1.5lbs, Roberson pulled out due to health complications. The rescheduled date this weekend saw Roberson miss by a full 4.5lbs, giving Vettori even more motivation.
In the end, he submitted Roberson by rear-naked choke within a round.
Opening up the Las Vegas card on Saturday was newcomer Christian Aguilera (14-6). Not too long ago, the welterweight had been preparing for a Contenders Series appearance. Instead, he was squared up with fellow newcomer Anthony Ivy, and put him away via TKO within a minute.
Tyson Nam’s (19-11-1) knockout of Zarrukh Adashev was even quicker, with a right hand ending Adashev’s night in 32 seconds. And Mariya Agapova (9-1) was also quick to submit Hannah Cifers, who suffered her second submission loss in a matter of weeks. The fight was Agapova’s promotional debut.
It’s an extra $50,000 for the bonuses winners at UFC on ESPN 10 on Saturday.
