The UFC made its debut in Des Moines, Iowa on Saturday with a Fight Night event that included some fast and furious action, a few upsets — and a main event that was somewhat anticlimactic due to injury.
Deiveson Figueiredo went down to a knee injury in the UFC Des Moines bantamweight headliner, where he faced Cory Sandhagen. That might have taken the fight, and victorious Sandhagen, out of the running for a bonus, but the UFC still opted to reward Sandhagen for his efforts to that point.
The night’s co-headliner was much clearer. Reinier de Ridder, who earned a TKO finish of the previously undefeated Bo Nickal, cashed in, pocketing $50,000 U.S. for serving up the first loss of the NCAA champion wrestler’s career. Some nasty knees helped put Nickal away, giving RDR his third win under the UFC banner in three trips to the octagon.
Defeating a stud prospect might also put de Ridder on the fast track at middleweight.
Those were two of four Performance of the Night bonuses awarded at UFC Des Moines, which skipped a Fight of the Night despite Jeremy Stephens and Mason Jones putting on a very solid showing in the main card opener. Instead, Sandhagen, de Ridder, Azamat Bekov (who put away TUF winner Ryan Loder), and Quang Le all earned themselves performance bonuses.
