Expect to hear a lot about Lone’er Kavanagh over the next few days.
And expect to hear his UFC Mexico City main event win over Brandon Moreno referred to as an Upset of the Year candidate. Because that’s exactly what it was.
Stepping into a fight with Moreno, a two-time former UFC flyweight champion, England’s Kavanagh, 26, was headed into enemy territory in Mexico. If we’re being honest, Kavanagh was only on the card because the UFC simply did not want to run a show in Mexico without Moreno, the face of MMA in the country. With Asu Almabayev injured, they scrambled. Kavanagh, with only three UFC fights under his belt, raised his hand.
Coming off a loss, it was a hard sell. Then, Kavanagh came out and fought a smart game plan, chipping away at Moreno’s legs. Beating him to the punch on the feet.
It was all enough to earn Lone’er one of two Performance of the Night bonuses at UFC Mexico City, even if the fight did go the distance. The other went to Imanol Rodriguez, who knocked out Kevin Borjas in a firefight after being knocked down himself in the opening round.
Fight of the Night at UFC Mexico City went to Regina Tarin vs Ernesta Kareckaite. Tarin jumped into the fight on just three day’s notice, but was fighting at home and entered an undefeated flyweight prospect. She came out still perfect, improving to 8-0 in a back-and-forth affair.
All four bonus winners earn $100,000. The night’s other finishers earn $25,000 a piece in finish bonuses. Those are Damian Pinas, Francis Marshall, Javier Reyes, Ryan Ganda, and King Green.
