With no Fight of the Night bonus awarded at the TUF 28 Finale, four fighters picked up Performance of the Night awards, including Joseph Benavidez and headliner Kamaru Usman.
The Ultimate Fighter 28 came to a close with the finale Friday night in Las Vegas, and if you made it through to the end, you may have felt like you completed a marathon. It’s not as if there weren’t plenty of finishes, but a six-fight main card starting at 10PM for those in the east made this one something of a trial. In the end, though, a total of eight finishes meant plenty to choose from in terms of Performance bonuses. On the other hand, the UFC opted not to award a Fight of the Night bonus at the TUF 28 Finale.
💰 secured.@Usman84Kg | @JoeJitsu | @Juan_Espino_Ofi | Roosevelt Roberts
50Gs #TUFFinale pic.twitter.com/cHeh7dyxcf
— UFC (@ufc) December 1, 2018
Among the winners, main event star Kamaru Usman, who put on a dominant showing against former lightweight champ Rafael dos Anjos. Contested at welterweight, where RDA has been plying his trade of late, the fight was a reminder that Usman, known as ‘The Nigerian Nightmare,’ is a scary fight for anyone at 170lbs. Despite being unable to put dos Anjos away, he did more than enough to state his case for a shot at the winner of Tyron Woodley vs. Colby Covington, which is expected to take place early next year.
Flyweight stalwart Joseph Benavidez also picked up an extra $50,000, and for good reason. He finished Alex Perez essentially twice in one fight thanks to some questionable reffing. TUF 28 heavyweight winner Juan Espino earned another 50K, as did Contender Series vet Roosevelt Roberts, who pulled off a standing guillotine choke against Darrell Horcher.
The promotion is back in action tonight with the stacked UFC Adelaide card.
