Andre Fili Lands Head Kick Knockout of the Year Contender at UFC Vegas 122
Andre Fili slept Kai Kamaka III with a thunderous second-round head kick to earn a $100K bonus at UFC Vegas 122.
Andre Fili delivered the highlight of the night at UFC Vegas 122, flatting Kai Kamaka III with a devastating head kick knockout at 0:22 of the second round on Saturday at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas.
The featherweight bout was one of the most anticipated scraps on the card, and Fili made sure it did not last long. After a competitive first round, Fili came out in the second and landed a clean head kick that sent Kamaka crashing to the canvas. The fight was over the instant it connected.
Fili earned a $100,000 Performance of the Night bonus for the finish, one of four handed out on the card. The knockout immediately entered the conversation for Knockout of the Year, per MMA Mania.
The other bonus winners at UFC Vegas 122 were main event winner Brendan Allen, who submitted Christian Leroy Duncan in the fifth round, Alice Pereira, who earned a first-round TKO over Daria Zhelezniakova, and Otari Tanzilovi, who finished Malcolm Wellmaker with a head kick and punches. All four fighters took home the standard $100,000 check.
Five additional fighters earned $25,000 finish bonuses on the night: Allen Frye Jr., Brendson Ribeiro, Niko Price, Francisco Prado and Julius Walker. It was a violent card from top to bottom, exactly the kind of night the Apex produces when the matchmakers put together a bunch of fighters with nothing to lose.
That head kick from Fili was violent. Like, turn-off-the-TV-and-sit-there-for-a-second violent. Kamaka walked right into it, and the sound in the Apex when he hit the mat was something else.
Fili has always had the talent. The problem has been consistency, and the featherweight division is unforgiving when you string together a couple of losses. But a finish like this puts him right back in the mix. You cannot teach that kind of timing.
The whole card delivered. Four Performance bonuses plus five finish bonuses means nine fighters walked out with extra checks. That is what happens when you stack an Apex card with hungry fighters. No title implications, no politics, just scraps. Sometimes those are the best nights in the sport.
https://www.sherdog.com/news/news/UFC-Vegas-122-bonuses-Brendan-Allen-3-more-earn-36100000-203157
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