Mateusz Rebecchi and Miktibek Olorubayi were honored by painting the canvas red at UFC 308.
Rebecchi and Olorubai won “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 each in a bloody 160-pound catchweight battle at Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Arena on Saturday. Rebecchi landed some heavy shots early on, causing severe swelling under his opponent’s eye in the first match. However, Olorubai was defeated and continued to chase even after the match was almost over in the final round. In the end, Rebecchi emerged with a hard-fought split decision victory.
Ilia Topuria also added a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus to her bank account thanks to her third-round KO of Max Holloway in the featherweight main event. By finishing off the durable Hawaiian at 1:34 of round three, “El Matador” became the first man in his 34 professional fights to stop Holloway with strikes.
Meanwhile, Khamzat Chimaev had a dominant performance against former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in the co-main event of UFC 308, earning him a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check. Chimaev grounded his opponent and moved to the back, creating an opening for a facecrank that drew Whittaker’s tap at 3:34 into the opening stanza.
Finally, Sharavdin Magomedov took home the final $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award on the card thanks to Armen Petrosyan’s stunning finish in the featured 185-pound bout. Shara Barrett was stunned when she knocked out Petrosyan with a double spinning backfist 4 minutes and 52 seconds into the second round, earning her fourth consecutive promotion title.
