UFC Vegas 62 was far from the most compelling card on paper, but there were some entertaining fights in the books by the end of the night.
The promotion’s return after a one-week layoff felt like a buffer ahead of UFC 280 next weekend (no, not Bruce Buffer, the other kind). From its main event on down, UFC Vegas 62 had a blue collar feel to it; fighters who worked hard, but lacked star power.
Jonathan Martinez, however, might just break out into that star category in the long run. The bantamweight has come an awful long way since his promotional debut opposite Andre Sukhamthath at UFC Moncton four years ago. On Saturday, he was paired up with Cub Swanson, who was making his 135lb debut.
As long in the tooth as Swanson is getting, Martinez still managed to make a UFC Hall of Famer look pedestrian. His leg kicks were downright nasty, and the last one put the nail in the coffin as “Killer” Cub went down in pain.
Martinez, still just 28, has now won four straight fights. Thanks to that leg kick TKO, he also won one of two Performance of the Night bonuses at UFC Vegas 62. The other went to Japanese flyweight Tatsuro Taira, who improved his record to a perfect 12-0 care of an arm-bar submission of C.J. Vergara.
Fight of the Night at UFC Vegas 62, meanwhile, was awarded to the bloody battle between Dusko Todorovic and Jordan Wright. Todorovic put the fight away just over three minutes into the second round, finishing Wright with a barrage of hammer fists and elbows.
All four bonus-winning fighters will pocket an extra $50,000 for their efforts at UFC Vegas 62, which saw the promotion back home at the Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.
