The ESPN era has come to a close, with Saturday night’s UFC Vegas 112 marking the final UFC event on the sports leader prior to the promotion moving to Paramount+ in 2026.
That meant one last round of post-fight bonuses to be awarded prior to them increasing in amount next year (by just how much has yet to be revealed). And one heavyweight bout shucked the trend of boring stallfests, earning Fight of the Night for an absolute slobberknocker of a scrap on Saturday.
That was Steven Asplund versus Sean Sharaf, which saw Asplund making his UFC debut after winning on the Contender Series earlier this year. While it wasn’t always pretty in a technical sense, it was violent, bloody, and all action. A jab from Asplund in the opening round opened up a nasty cut on Sharaf, but a well-placed one in a sense: right between the eyes, bloody but not completely obscuring his vision, and not bad enough for the cageside physician to stop the bout.
Instead, the fight carried on into the second round, where both Sharaf, looking for his first UFC victory after losing his own debut in 2024, and Asplund had their moments. The cardio of Asplund was the difference-maker, however: the man who had once weighed over 500 pounds had plenty in the tank and was able to wear down Sharaf, hemming him in more than once, winging lefts, rights, and uppercuts. Sharaf, tough as nails, wouldn’t go down, and instead the ref finally saved him from his own doggedness with the fight still standing.
Before it was even over, it was all but a lock for Fight of the Night. Not a bad start to Asplund’s career, with an extra $50,000 in his pocket. As for Sharaf, perhaps the loss will sting a bit less, and he’ll likely get another chance for a first UFC victory.
Performance of the Night bonuses at UFC Vegas 112 went to headliner Manel Kape, who knocked out Brandon Royval in the first round, and Kevin Vallejos. Giga Chikadze had promised to send the Argentinian “back to kindergarten,” deeming the co-main event fight too much of a step up for Vallejos, but Vallejos had other plans. He stopped Chikadze in the second round with a spinning back fist and a few follow-up punches.
