All but two of the fights at UFC Vegas 99 went the distance. Usually, when that happens, it is easy to determine which fighters will receive a performance bonus.
The two fighters who finished their opponents are almost always a shoo-in for the bonuses. That wasn’t the case on Saturday. While Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez took home a performance bonus for his one-sided demolition of Michel Pereira in the main event, the other fighter to win by finish, Joselyne Edwards, didn’t earn a bonus.
Edwards easily defeated her opponent, Tamires Vidal, and secured the submission victory with just 30 seconds remaining in the fight. However, Edwards missed weight by a whopping three pounds, weighing 139 pounds.
MMA journalist Amy Kaplan posted a video of all of Edwards’ attempts to gain weight, which included removing her braids to get as light as possible.
As it was, Edwards and Vidal had noticeable tension throughout the bout. Unfortunately for Vidal, the anger didn’t close the skill gap.
Edwards repeatedly beat her to the punch during stand-up and also showed off a far more impressive power wrestling game. While Edwards is best known as a striker, she got the finish via submission.
It was only the second submission finish of her professional MMA career. Here is a look at the finish.
Edwards has had some noteworthy battles with the scale during her career. The latest incident was the third time she has missed the bantamweight limit in three years.
There is no questioning her skill level, but there are legitimate concerns about whether she can consistently make 135 pounds. As Kayla Harrison’s star continues to rise and we see the potential return of Amanda Nunes to the Octagon, one has to wonder if it is time for the UFC to re-open their women’s featherweight division.
UFC President Dana White recently said he would be willing to start an atomweight division for women as the number of smaller-framed female fighters continues to rise.
It makes sense to look around the globe for women who comfortably fit into the featherweight division and perhaps group with Harrison, Edwards, Nunes, and others to rebuild the weight class. Here is a look at all of the results from UFC Vegas 99.
All of the bonus winners are marked with a trophy icon.
- 🏆 – Anthony Hernandez defeats Michel Pereira via fifth-round TKO
- Rob Font defeats Kyler Phillips via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Charles Johnson defeats Sumudaerji via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Cameron Smotherman defeats Jake Hadley via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-27, 29-27)
- 🏆 – Darren Elkins defeats 🏆 – Daniel Pineda via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Asu Almabayev defeats Matheus Nicolau via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Jean Matsumoto defeats Brad Katona via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Joselyne Edwards defeats Tamires Vidal via third-round submission (rear-naked choke)
- Elise Reed defeats Jessica Penne via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Melissa Martinez defeats Alice Ardelean via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Austen Lane defeats Robelis Despaigne via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
