UFC 324 was ravaged by injury before it ever got off the ground. A few weeks out, we lost Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes. On weigh-in day, after successfully making weight, Cameron Smotherman stepped off the scale, took a few steps and then faceplanted, busting open his chin which ended up requiring stitches. This morning, just hours before the event’s kickoff, we lost yet another bout, this time due to suspicious betting activity which later revealed Alexander Hernandez was injured, so his bout vs. Michael Johnson was canceled. Rocky start to a billion-dollar-per-year deal.
The card itself was pretty good, with the prelims seeing four straight finishes. Considering that the bonuses have doubled now, and there’s added incentive ($25K bonus for all finishes that didn’t already earn a standard bonus) to get a finish, perhaps a fire has been lit under our modern day gladiators. And may I just say that the old guys really do find some magical reserves because Nikita Krylov certainly did.
The rest of the fights, save one, went the distance, with Silva-Namajunas being closer than I thought it would be. Nurmagomedov predictably routed Figueiredo, as O’Malley did with Song Yadong. The lone finish was Cortes-Acosta sending Derrick Lewis to the land of banana peels and loss.
Gaethje-Pimblett was an absolute banger—not exactly a classic, mainly because there was an abundance of chicanery with eye-pokes, low blows and just wild striking, but still very good. Paddy has no quit in him and Justin can still crack. It was very clear that the significant strikes were very different for these gents, with Gaethje’s being far more impactful. Oh yeah, some brave person put $1.3M on Paddy to win, so there’s that.
Now that we’ve reviewed the highlights, let’s check out the results and bonuses while we’re here.
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UFC 324 Results
* 155 lbs.: Justin Gaethje def. Paddy Pimblett by unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 49-46)
* 135 lbs.: Sean O’Malley def. Song Yadong by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
* 265 lbs.: Waldo Cortes-Acosta def. Derrick Lewis by TKO (ground and pound), round 2 (3:14)
* 125 lbs.: Natalia Silva def. Rose Namajunas by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
* 145 lbs.: Jean Silva def. Arnold Allen by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
* 125 lbs.: Umar Nurmagomedov def. Deiveson Figueiredo by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
* 185 lbs.: Ateba Gautier def. Andrey Pulyaev by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
* 205 lbs.: Nikita Krylov def. Modestas Bukauskas by KO (punches), round 3 (4:57)
* 125 lbs.: Alex Perez def. Charles Johnson by TKO (left hook), round 1 (3:16)
* 265 lbs.: Josh Hokit def. Denzel Freeman by TKO (strikes, I guess), round 1 (4:59)
* 170 lbs.: Ty Miller def. Adam Fugitt by TKO (punches), round 1 (4:59)
UFC 324 Bonuses
* $100K each FOTN: Justin Gaethje vs. Paddy Pimblett
* $100K each POTN: Ty Miller, Josh Hokit
* $25K each to the other fighters that got a finish:Waldo Cortes-Acosta, Nikita Krylov
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