Darren Elkins, Marco Polo Reyes, and the UFC St. Louis main event were awarded bonuses on Sunday.
UFC St. Louis turned out to be a card short on finishes (all but four fights went the distance). That didn’t mean the card lacked action, however. In the end, three fights picked up bonuses, and not coincidentally, all three bouts ended in finishes.
Picking up Fight of the Night honors was the short but brutal slugfest between ‘The Korean Superboy’ Doo-Ho Choi and Jeremy Stephens. Stephens managed to finish off the Korean prospect halfway through the second round, stunning and dropping the younger fighter. Follow-up elbows on the downed Choi sealed the deal. Yet Choi made the fight more than a one-sided drubbing, at least until the very end. For their efforts, Stephens and Choi are both $50,000 richer.
Performance of the Night bonuses, meanwhile, went to Darren Elkins and Marco Polo Reyes. Reyes, coming off a loss to James Vick, got back in the win column on Sunday. He picked up 50K with a crushing knockout of octagon newcomer Matt Frevola. The bout looked more like a rock ’em, sock ’em robots battle than anything resembling a calculated chess match, and for that fans in St. Louis, that was just fine.
Elkins, meanwhile, submitted Michael Johnson in Johnson’s featherweight debut. The finish came via rear-naked choke mid-way through the second round. It was a come from behind win for Elins, who has now won six straight.
