Mateusz Rebecki and Myktybek Orolbai were rewarded for painting the canvas red at UFC 308.
Rebecki and Orolbai engaged in a bloody battle in their 160-pound catchweight affair, at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, earning “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece. Rebecki landed heavy shots early, causing serious swelling under his opponent’s eye in the opening stanza. Orolbai kept coming, however, even after being dropped and nearly finished in the final stanza. Ultimately, Rebecki emerged with a hard-fought split decision triumph.
Elsewhere, Ilia Topuria padded his bank account with a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus thanks to his third-round knockout of Max Holloway in the featherweight main event. By putting the durable Hawaiian away at the 1:34 mark of Round 3, “El Matador” became the first person to stop Holloway with strikes in his 34-fight professional tenure.
Meanwhile, Khamzat Chimaev garnered a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check for a dominant showing against former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in the UFC 308 co-main event. Chimaev grounded his opponent, transitioned to the back and created an opening to secure a face crank, eliciting a tap from Whittaker 3:34 into the opening stanza.
Finally, Sharabutdin Magomedov captured the card’s final $50,000 “Performance of the Night” thanks to a spectacular finish of Armen Petrosyan in a featured 185-pound bout. “Shara Bullet” made jaws drop when he knocked out Petrosyan with a double spinning backfist 4:52 into Round 2 to earn his fourth straight promotional triumph.
