On a night that saw the UFC bid farewell to Fight Island, a number of strong showings stood out from the pack. And the UFC chose to recognize pretty much all of them. Forgoing a Fight of the Night award, the promotion instead opted to award six (!) Performance of the Night bonuses at UFC Fight Island 3.
The news was announced by UFC Senior Vice President of International and Content David Shaw during the post-fight press conference.
The winners: Tom Aspinall, Khamzat Chimaev, Paul Craig, Fabricio Werdum, Tanner Boser, and Jesse Ronson.
Quite the collection. Heavyweight newcomer Aspinall dished out a quick KO of Jake Collier, in what was Aspinall’s debut fight for the UFC. Collier, a former middleweight and light heavyweight in the promotion, was taking his first heavyweight bout inside the octagon.
Chimaev made history, spacing two wins apart by all of ten days. He dominated Rhys McKee, a Cage Warriors veteran making his promotional debut.
Paul Craig earned his fifth submission win in the UFC’s light heavyweight division, using a triangle to put away Gadzhimurad Antigulov. Craig’s triangle was his division-leading third win via that particular method.
Fabricio Werdum also had a big submission win, using an arm-bar to force the tap from Alexander Gustafsson. “The Mauler” was in his first fight back from retirement, and making his heavyweight debut in the UFC. Unfortunately for him, it did not go his way.
Finally, the Canadian contingent. Tanner Boser knocked out Raphael Pessoa on the preliminary card, while Ronson, just a few fights later, submitted Nicolas Dalby with a rear-naked choke. It was Ronson’s return to the promotion, after being cut back in 2014.
