Following a three-round dust-up with game Brazilian Raoni Barcelos at UFC Vegas 30, Timur Valiev reminded everyone that he trained alongside the likes of Frankie Edgar.
Knockdowns? Who cares! That seemed to be the message. But to be fair to Barcelos, Valiev was nearly finished in the second round when Barcelos caught his opponent not once, but twice. Somehow, perhaps calling on the spirit of the (very much alive) Edgar, Valiev managed to persevere. And he did enough in the first and third rounds to take home a majority decision win in a fight that wound up taking home the Fight of the Night bonus on Saturday.
Joining Barcelos and Valiev in the bonus-winning column were Marcin Prachnio and Kennedy Nzechukwu. The light heavyweight pair both earned Performance of the Night bonuses for come-from-behind wins. Prachnio, who was lit up early in his fight with Ike Villanueva, managed to land a liver kick resulting in a clean KO for his second win inside the octagon. The Polish ONE Championship veteran, who had been on the brink of losing his job, now has back-to-back wins.
Nzechuwku, meanwhile, had Danilo Marques riding him like a backpack for most of the opening round of their featured preliminary card bout. The soft-spoken fighter carries a big stick, however — or at least has very heavy hands. He mounted a comeback, scoring the TKO in the third.
All four bonus winning fighters will pocket an extra $50,000 for their efforts at UFC Vegas 30.
