The three stars of 'UFC Fight Night 61: Bigfoot vs Mir'

Frank Mir and Antonio Silva

The UFC plans to stage 45 events in 2015, and during that time, hundreds of fighters will enter and exit the octagon.

While pre-fight hype is an enjoyable aspect of the sport, it’s ultimately the in-cage performances that speak most to fans. For the majority of fighters, the opportunity to present their skills to the world only comes along a few times per year.

A total of 22 fighters got the chance on Sunday as part of the FOX Sports 1-televised UFC Fight Night 61 event at Gigantinho Gymnasium in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

The organization’s first event of 2015 in Brazil was a memorable one and featured a record-breaking 10 underdog victories.

Now that UFC Fight Night 61 is in the books, it’s time to commence MMAjunkie’s “Three Stars” ceremony.

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Canadian fighters started the year 0-2 under the UFC banner, but Matt Dwyer (8-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) put his country on the board in a big way with a Superman-punch knockout of welterweight William Patalino (7-3 MMA, 1-3 UFC).

Dwyer entered his second UFC bout as a sizable underdog, likely due to his performance in his promotional debut. Albert Tumenov knocked him out in October in a fight in which Dwyer looked far from UFC-caliber.

The 25-year-old then flew to Brazil for his first international fight. The long journey from home paid off; Dwyer not only picked up the rare finish, but he also picked up a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award.

Trained at the same gym that produced No. 1 contender Rory MacDonald, Dwyer clearly has some potential. He’s earned all his victories by knockout and, as the tallest active UFC fighter at 170 pounds, owns physical tools that bring a different dynamic to the octagon.

Frank Mir’s (17-9 MMA, 15-9 UFC) performance against Antonio Silva appeared to be near-effortless. This was a surprise because few were convinced the underdog former UFC heavyweight champion would win by knockout in less than two minutes.

Some were prepared to write Mir’s retirement story (or at the very least, his UFC release story) before he ever entered the octagon with “Bigfoot.” He’d lost his previous four fights and wasn’t particularly competitive in any of them.

Mir has struggled in the past against large heavyweights, including Brock Lesnar, Shane Carwin and Alistair Overeem. The massive Silva presented a similar challenge.

When fight time arrived, though, Mir looked like the favorite. His speed difference was noticeable from the outset, and the 35-year-old didn’t waste any time before he made Silva pay.

Mir snuck a tight left hook early in the first round and then quickly finished the job with a series of punches and elbows for his first UFC victory in more than three years.

On a card that will be remembered for its historic number of upsets, one of the most impressive performances came from women’s bantamweight Marion Reneau (6-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC).

Just 50 days after she won her octagon debut at UFC 182, Reneau accepted another bout in hostile territory against Brazilian powerhouse Jessica Andrade (12-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC).

Andrade may be 14 years her junior, but Reneau was not intimidated by the aggression of her opponent. Andrade landed a big punch that knocked down Reneau early in the opening round, but that’s where her success came to a halt.

Reneau didn’t panic when placed in a compromising position. She waited for Andrade to make a mistake and locked in a tight triangle choke for the submission finish.

Now 2-0 in the UFC, Reneau has begun to turn heads in the 135-pound division. That’s a far cry from where she was fewer than two years ago when UFC President Dana White told her she was “too old” to join the cast of “The Ultimate Fighter 18.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 61, check out the UFC Events section of the site.