If ever there was a time when it might have been easy to hand out a bunch of extra bonuses, it was UFC 218.
The show in Detroit in December 2018 featured nine finishes in 13 fights – including six of eight on the prelims. But when it came time for bonuses, the UFC gave out two Fights of the Night, including one to Eddie Alvarez and Justin Gaethje for their main-card lightweight banger.
Alvarez still was in the process of trying to rebound from the loss of the lightweight title to Conor McGregor in November 2016. His follow-up was a no contest against Dustin Poirier when he landed illegal knees.
But Gaethje was the one with perhaps more eyes on him. He came into the fight 18-0 and was just a few months removed from his UFC debut – a knockout of Michael Johnson that double-dipped for Fight and Performance of the Night. Before he got to the UFC, he was 6-0 in WSOF title fights.
Both fighters were bloodied up in the second round, and it was a regular trading of short advantages. It was clear even then the fight was an all-timer.
But in the third, with Alvarez’s face an absolute swollen mess, he landed some punches, then drilled Gaethje with a perfect right knee to the chin. Gaethje went face-down to the canvas, and Alvarez hit him with a few more shots. When he tried to get up, he fell on his face again for the first loss of his career.
Check out the full all-time classic in the video above.
