UFC Macau had fight fans in North America waking up in the wee hours of the morning (or just pulling an all-nighter), but for those who did stay up for coffee and fisticuffs, it was worth it.
An action-packed evening saw multiple explosive finishes and a solid main event between Deiveson Figueiredo and Petr Yan. With so many stoppages, however, the promotion opted to forgo a Fight of the Night, and instead awarded four Performance of the Night bonuses when the dust had settled.
Among the winners, strawweight Shi Ming, who floored Feng Xiaocan in a preliminary card fight, a come-from-behind victory that stunned viewers. One of the scariest head kicks in recent memory, Xiaocan was removed from the cage on a stretcher, head immobilized. Luckily, Xiaocan was responsive after being unconscious for about four minutes, and her CT scan was negative per the UFC Macau broadcast, which did an excellent job providing updates.
Still, the practicing physician will be taking a good chunk of time off. Ming, who won the Road to UFC 3 tournament with the head kick KO, will now have to fess up to her parents, after telling them she had entered a traditional martial arts competition.
Also among the bonus winners on Saturday was Chinese light heavyweight Zhang Mingyang, who put away newcomer Ozzy Diaz. The knockout improved Mingyang to 2-0 under the UFC banner. Muslim Salikhov turned back the clock once again, landing a spinning wheel kick on Song Kenan for his own $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus. Gabriella Fernandes, meanwhile, secured both an upset victory and a come-from-behind win when she choked out Wang Cong.
