Scottish limb snatcher Paul Craig is $50,000 richer following UFC 263.
The light heavyweight “gatekeeper” proved too much for the rising Jamahal Hill on Saturday, with a first round arm-bar that had fans both in attendance and at home queasy.
After trapping Hill’s arm early in the fight, Craig rolled into an arm-bar that left the limb dangling at an unnatural angle. With Hill not tapping and the ref unaware of the injury, Craig then caught his opponent in a triangle, the arm still flopping about. Delivering a series of elbows, Craig would eventually pick up what was announced as a TKO win. Hill, meanwhile, appeared to have a broken arm, although UFC President Dana White suggested following the event that it had only been dislocated.
The finish earned Craig one of two Performance of the Night bonuses awarded at UFC 263. The other went to Brandon Moreno, who upset flyweight champ Deiveson Figueiredo to become the first Mexican champion in UFC history. “Baby Assassin” looked dominant throughout before catching the “God of War” in a rear-naked choke the third round.
Fight of the Night honors at the PPV event was an easy choice. Lightweights Brad Riddell and Drew Dober duked it out for a thrilling three rounds, never taking their foot off the gas pedal. Vicious exchanges on the feet were only interrupted by explosive takedown attempts from both men, and each gave as good as they got. In the end, Riddell won a unanimous decision, taking two of three rounds on the scorecards, but there were no real losers in this one — and the fans certainly walked away winners.
Attendance at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, AZ was 17,208 for a total gate of $4,281,800.00 — a new record for the venue.
