UFC Vegas 117 may have been overshadows by Netflix’s Rousey vs. Carano card in terms of star power, but the Fight Night event at the Meta Apex still turned out to be historic.
While there wasn’t much to excite fans on paper, in practice there were a few fun fights, nothing more so than Alice Aredelean’s never-before-seen (in the UFC anyway) “capsule lock” submission of Polyana Vianna.
Vianna, on her back, had a body triangle in place and seemed to be safe, if not where she wanted to be, towards the end of the second round of their preliminary card strawweight fight.
And then, suddenly, she was tapping. Turns out, Ardelean was able to put pressure on Viana’s calf and knee whilst leaning back from top position, also using Vianna’s own body triangle against her. As Ardelean put it later, she “calf sliced herself,” but the finish goes down as the UFC’s first-ever capsule lock, and not surprisingly earned Alice Ardelean a $100,000 Performance of the Night bonus.
The Romanian later admitted she’d learned of the technique via an Instagram video.
The other Performance bonus at UFC Vegas 117 went to newcomer Juan Diaz, who submitted highly touted but now-struggling prospect Malcolm Wellmaker.
Fight of the Night on Saturday went to Doo-Ho Choi vs. Daniel Santos, which saw Hall of Fame member Choi come away the winner. Nicolle Caliari, Cody Brundage, Thomas Gantt, Khaos Williams, and Bernardo Sopaj all earned $25,000 finishing bonuses.
