On a night with some emphatic knockouts, a rarely seen slam KO at UFC Vegas 16 cashed in.
Jordan Leavitt (8-0) made his octagon debut at the event, having won his way into the promotion on Dana White’s Contender Series. Going up against a far more experienced veteran in Matt Wiman, Leavitt had a tough task for his first fight under the promotional banner — but he made it look easy. Unless you were in Wiman’s position.
Scooping Wiman up for a takedown, Leavitt carried him across the cage en route to slamming him down on his back. The impact of head meeting canvas was enough to knock Wiman senseless, and Leavitt held off on any follow-up strikes for the walk-off knockout via slam.
Thanks to that big finish just 22 seconds into the fight, Leavitt picked up one of two Performance of the Night bonuses awarded Saturday.
The other Performance of the Night bonus at UFC Vegas 16 went to Gabriel “Moggly” Benitez (22-8), who got back in the win column thanks to a knee to the body on opponent Justin Jaynes — and a handful of follow-up strikes to seal the deal.
Fight of the Night was awarded to the middleweight main event of Jack Hermansson vs. Marvin Vettori. Italy’s Vettori was the second replacement opponent for Hermansson (21-6), after both Darren Till and Kevin Holland were forced off the card. Ranked just out of the top 10, Vettori (16-4-1) made the most of the opportunity, winning a unanimous decision against the fourth-ranked Hermansson in what can only be described as a stand-up war.
All four bonus winning fighters at UFC Vegas 16 will receive an extra $50,000 for their efforts.
