One fighter may have already sealed a performance of the night bonus in the third fight of the night at the O2 Arena.
With the UFC London card underway, the highlight of the event thus far came after two back-to-back decision wins for underdogs.
Whilst Kaue Fernandes’ dominant performance against Guram Kateladze certainly deserved significant praise, UK fight fans were still waiting on the first finish of the night.
The weekend has already seen some highlight reel stoppages with Cage Warriors the night before producing a record-breaking knockout.
The Octagon produced its own when after it looked like Puja Tomar was about to deliver a statement finish to get the fans out of their seats, Shauna Bannon completely flipped the fight on its head.
In the first round of their strawweight matchup, Shauna Bannon was able to largely control Puja Tomar thanks to her unique karate style.
The Irish striker kept Tomar at bay with her relentless side kicks with the biggest moment of the first round coming in the form of a huge side kick to the face.
Despite some kicks that landed a little low, Tomar delivered her own flashy strike in the second, dropping Bannon with a huge head kick with a finish seemingly being just moments away after the technique landed clean.
Bannon somehow survived the knockdown and started to implement her improving grappling game before threatening with an armbar off of her back.
After a slight adjustment to the technique, she was able to tighten up the submission to get the tap after being on the brink of losing just moments before.
Bannon called for a performance of the night bonus in her post-fight interview and whilst the armbar itself didn’t set the O2 Arena alight, the incredible comeback did all of the talking for her.
The 31-year-old has now produced back-to-back wins following a loss to Bruna Brasil on her UFC debut in July of 2023.
Shauna Bannon showed a vital improvement in her remarkable comeback win
Though Shauna Bannon did land some impressive and flashy kicks that had her opponent on the back foot in the first round, her approach was becoming predictable.
Whether or not Puja Tomar would have produced an answer to that question later on in the fight is irrelevant but that might not be the case in other matchups.
Having produced a submission off of her back, Bannon showed that her skillset is improving and that she has more ways to win than just her karate striking style.
After a tough start to life in the UFC, it’s vital that she is making improvements that will make her a more well-rounded competitor at strawweight.
