Bobby Green made Grant Dawson’s first UFC main event a memorable one, for all the wrong reasons.
The lightweight pair headlined Saturday’s UFC Vegas 80, with the promotion once again holed up at the UFC Apex rather than out on the road. Quite the shame, because Saturday’s main card had plenty to crow about, and no doubt would have been a hit with fans in any building able to house more than a handful of them.
It was Green capping off the night with a 33-second KO of Dawson, care of a straight left hand than seemed to put the budding prospect down out of nowhere. Coming on the heels of a win over fan-favorite Tony Ferguson, the Dawson stoppage has Bobby “King” Green poised for great things — though if he gets his way, he’ll simply take another fight in December, looking to stay busy.
Still, in an era of fighters being marched in off the Contender Series conveyor belt, an outspoken veteran with the quirks of Green is exactly the sort of fighter the UFC needs out front and center at the moment. And in front of fans.
For his efforts at UFC Vegas 80, Green picked up one of four Performance of the Night bonuses. No Fight of the Night was awarded; instead, the promotion dished out extra cash to Joe Pyfer, Nate Maness, and Drew Dober.
Dober set a lightweight record with his latest knockout, against Ricky Glenn (technically a TKO); he now leads the 155lb division with nine. Nate Maness cashed in for a first-round TKO of Mateus Mendonca in the pair’s flyweight fight, while co-headliner Joe Pyfer collected the final bonus.
Pyfer, one of the bigger stars to come off the Contender Series in more recent years thanks to Dana White’s “Be Joe Pyfer” line, put away fellow hard-hitting middleweight Abdul Razak Alhassan. Blessed with a bit of personality (though maybe not to the extent of Green, but really, few can say that), Pyfer a.k.a. “Bodybagz” has the potential to be another star for the promotion, should he keep piling up the wins. And bodies.
All four bonus-winners will pocket $50,000 for their efforts on Saturday, on top of show/win money.
