Palatnikov was the underdog coming in at 2 weeks notice. He finished Cosce brutally after being almost finished himself in Round 1. Both guys took heavy fights throughout the fight, and the momentum went back and forth. Eventually, Palatnikov caught Cosce with a a cross, dropped him before finishing him off with several uncontested shots to the head. Great performance by both fighters.
Buckley kept his streak hot with another sensational KO. Outclassed his opponent and took almost no damage.
Tim Means almost got choked out by Mike Perry in the first round, but he showed heart and fought off the sub. Went on to piece Perry up with crisp jabs and elbows for the next two fast paced rounds and snatched a decisive decision despite the younger Perry being the favourite + had the advantage of missing weight.
Valentina defended her title by beating a BJJ black belt at her own game. Dominated 4 out of 5 rounds against a dangerous opponent. Maia also did well by winning a round against a +2000 favourite champ. Took some heavy hits like a champ.
I just don't see how Antonina deserves POTN by any reasonable metric. Her fight was slow and plodding, and she didn't exactly show off any more skills, fight IQ, chin or heart compared to the other fighters on the card. You can't even go by the other arbitrary reasons mentioned on this thread like giving lower card fighters a chance , fueling a pro-feminist angle etc. because there are both low card fighters and female fighters who did better than Antonina tonight.
Not that I particularly care who wins these awards. But if you go by logic, this is complete BS.
