When the smoke settled, not from the fights but from the carnage that hit the card leading up to the event — a full three fights were cancelled in the final 36 hours or so — UFC Vegas 14 had a couple of shining bright spots. None more so than its main event, which saw Paul Felder step in on five day’s notice to take on former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos.
A little less than a year ago, “The Irish Dragon” Felder seemed ready to give up on the sport. But after battling to a hard-fought, bloody split decision against dos Anjos, in the latter’s first lightweight appearance in years, Felder proved that he still has what it takes to hang with the best in the division.
dos Anjos, meanwhile, executed a smart game plan, keeping Felder tied up along the fence and winning the clinch battles more often than not. In doing so, he proved he’s still a force to be reckoned with at 155lbs.
Both proved worthy of an extra $50,000 by way of the Fight of the Night bonus.
Performance of the Night bonuses, meanwhile, were awarded to Sean Strickland, for a second-round TKO of Brendan Allen, and Khaos Williams, who made short work of Abdul Razak Alhassan in the co-main event.
After sitting out two years due to injury, Strickland now has two wins in a matter of weeks. Not a bad haul at all for the middleweight, who admitted that money motivated him to accept the short-notice, 195lb catchweight fight. Williams, for his part, took all of 30 seconds to score his second straight knockout inside the octagon.
All four men take home an extra $50,000 USD.
