SportsJOE’s Monday Morning Awards: UFC New Orleans’ best performers

Finishfest 2015 - my suggested nickname for the clunkier "UFC New Orleans."

The 12 fight card saw a preposterous 10 finishes with seven coming in the first round and the three hour broadcast of the main card resulted in just 21 minutes of actual fight time. AMAZING! We wouldn't have planned this event being the most exciting of the year just based on the fights but it delivered and then some. There are some tough calls to make so let's crack on with the fourth weekly Monday Morning Awards, or MMAs if you will. (See what we did there?)

Knockout of the night - Anthony Birchak

We had seven KOs/TKOs to choose from so there was some stiff competition but we love nothing more than a scrap and a clean knockout, both of which Anthony Birchak provided. Birchak came in as an underdog against Joe Soto whose last fight was a competitive clash for the UFC bantamweight title but El Toro didn't give Soto a moment to get his bearings as he exploded in a tornado of strikes that culminated with a short right that set up a sudden meeting between face and mat.

Submission of the night - Joe Proctor

We were torn between Ben Rothwell and Joe Proctor for this honour but the superior technique, coupled with the grittiness displayed by Proctor in his comeback victory earns him submission of the night. Proctor had lost the opening round before finding his range in the second and taking it. The third round was a close one and we were all awaiting a questionable judge's decision before Proctor took the bull by the horns and the opponent by the neck and choking him unconscious with just two seconds remaining.

Performance of the night - Shawn Jordan

A hook kick from a 270lb man, that'll do it for us. But Shawn Jordan impressed us big time through the six minutes of fight time and he displayed some grappling that would trouble a lot of big boys in the UFC. But the flashy kick will be what everyone's talking about this morning so let's enjoy it once more.

One to watch - Brian Ortega

There weren't too many young whippersnappers on the fight card so were few candidates that we could call "ones to watch." We've opted for Brian Ortega who came out on top in the most exciting fight of all 12 on the card as he looked to be in trouble early on but rebounded with a courageous show of heart to drop Thiago Tavares before mounting seamlessly and getting the finish.