While there were some fun fights at UFC Vegas 75, including Carlos Hernandez vs. Denys Bondar (at least minus the fouls), following the main event, there was little question as to who Fight of the Night would go to.
Across five rounds, Jared Cannonier and Marvin Vettori put on a violently entertaining spectacle, with both men landing heavy shots. As the bout wore on, Cannonier steadily pulled ahead, with “The Italian Dream” Vettori proving to have a granite chin, eating crushing right hands from Cannonier that would have put a lesser fighter — not to mention lesser chin — down.
Cannonier came close to finishing more than once, but Vettori hung around to the end seemingly out of sheer will alone. For their efforts, both men earned that extra $50,000 in bonus money, though the performance felt like it was worth even more.
Performance of the Night bonuses at UFC Vegas 75 went to flyweight Alessandro Costa and lightweight Manuel Torres. Costa capped off the preliminary card by stopping Jimmy Flick with elbows, while on the main card, it was a single step in elbow by Manuel Torres — more of a Hellbow — that put away Nikolas Motta, in a finish that would make Matt Brown proud.
