Jimmy Crute, UFC 290 ceremonial weigh-in Credit: Eddie Law/Cageside PressIt was a big night for the home team at UFC Perth.
If you count New Zealand’s Carlos Ulberg (let’s just call it Team Oceania), then all four bonuses winners on the much-maligned Fight Night card were local favorites. The event, which struggled to sell tickets, still produced some solid action, especially in the main and co-main events.
All four bonuses awarded were of the Performance of the Night variety. No Fight of the Night was handed out at UFC Perth.
In the co-headliner, Australia’s Jimmy Crute earned his second straight win, with what was announced as a rear-naked choke against Ivan Erslan. In reality, Crute appeared to catch the KSW veteran in something more akin to a Camel Clutch, cranking until Erslan was forced to tap.
There was no tap from Dominick Cruz in the main event – he was knocked out cold by Carlos Ulberg, who dropped him with a 1-2 then followed up with a few ground strikes. Ulberg, a City Kickboxing star known as “Black Jag,” has now won nine straight in the UFC’s light heavyweight division. It’s hard to envision a world where Ulberg doesn’t fight for gold next, though Magomed Ankalaev vs. Alex Pereira 2 has to happen first.
The remaining two bonus winners at UFC Perth were Jack Jenkins and Brando Pericic, both Australians. Pericic was making his promotional debut, and put away Elisha Ellison with some heavy punches from the top, blows that left Ellison down and out for some time.
After the bout, Pericic revealed that he had taken a $100,000 loan to pursue fighting in the UFC, and called for a bonus to help pay it off. Wish granted.
All four bonuses winners pick up the usual $50,000 U.S. on top of their purse (usual, that is, until the Paramount+ deal kicks in next year).