UFC 232 post-fight bonuses: Nunes starches Cyborg, snags POTN honors

Bloodyelbow.com

The Forum in Inglewood, California was home to a spectacular night of fights for the final show of the year. The card saw six (T)KOs, four submissions, and three decisions, including one split-decision.

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Montel Jackson took just 80 seconds to dispatch Brian Kelleher tonight, ending their fight with a most impressive submission. The round opened with Kelleher the aggressor, throwing big kicks and rushing Jackson. Montel responded with a huge elbow that stunned Kelleher and put him on his knees. Jordan followed him down, then swarmed him with a barrage of punches that forced ‘Whitey Mouse’ to turn toward his opponent who grabbed a nice D’Arce choke and this is how he did it…

Fight of the Night: Chad Mendes vs. Alexander Volkanovski

Chad Mendes and Alexander Volkanovski put on a fantastic back-and-forth fight that wowed fans everywhere. After a feeling out period, Mendes comes in with a flurry of punches, then looks for the level change, but is thwarted by Volkanovski. The two are going hell for leather, with the Aussie targeting Mendes’ body.

The second round opened with a missed flying knee by Mendes, but Chad lands a short right that stuns his opponent. Alexander continues moving in and is just teeing off until Mendes gets another takedown. Both men are bleeding at this point, and Mendes snags yet another takedown. “The Great” is up quickly and back to blasting “Money” with kicks to the body and elbows over the top. A quick uppercut and overhand right combo drops Mendes and Volkanovski follows with a few more bombs before the referee steps in to call a halt to the action.

Alexander Volkanovski gets the win and both men get $50,000 for putting on an outstanding fight.

Performance of the Night: Ryan Hall and Amanda Nunes

BJ Penn looked good for the first minute-and-a-half of the fight, landing a nice combination and doing well in the clinch. Hall flops to his back and Penn kicked him from all angles until the referee stands them up. Hall throws a couple missed kicks, then rolls into a heel hook, forcing a quick tap from Penn, whose leg is clearly fubar’d.

Hall gets the submission win over the legend and $50K for his quick work.

Amanda Nunes beat Cris Cyborg. I repeat, Amanda Nunes beat Cris Cyborg.

The fight opens with Cyborg swinging for the fences and connecting, but Nunes stands her ground and wobbles Cyborg with a bomb of her own. They start going for broke, throwing haymakers from every direction, but it’s Amanda “Leoa” who is landing combinations that are rocking the daylights out of Cris. Cyborg shoots, but Nunes defends and rips a combination, dropping the champ. Cyborg regains her footing, but a punch to the temple sends her right back down again, and just like that, she is dethroned.