There were some solid candidates for Fight of the Night at UFC 264. Among them, a banger of a fight between Niko Price and Michel Fereira.
However, it was another wild fight, between Sean O’Malley and Kris Moutinho, that earned that honor. And, with the bonuses upped to $75,000 for the big event, it means that much more to those involved.
Moutinho entered the fight as a short-notice replacement for Louis Smolka, who was forced off the card. The CES veteran proved to have ample heart and a granite chin, putting the pressure on O’Malley throughout the bout. He also ate an insane number of significant strikes, and finally saw the fight waved off in the third round, with less than a minute remaining.
Performance of the Night bonuses at UFC 264 went to Tai Tuivasa and Dricus Du Plessis. Tuivasa landed a counter on Greg Hardy that put the NFL star out cold on the main card — which brought about an immediate cheer from the Las Vegas faithful. Tuivasa immediately jumped on the cage for a celebratory shoey.
Du Plessis, in his second UFC fight, secured his second finish with a stunning knockout of a game Trevin Giles.
All four fighters will earn $75,000 for their efforts — with bonuses raised in a one-off by UFC President Dana White. Attendance at UFC 264, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, was 20,062 for a gate of 16.76 million dollars U.S.
