It was exactly the sort of “silly” brawl that former welterweight champ Robbie Lawler said he didn’t want to get drawn into — but his UFC 276 war with Bryan Barberena picked up Fight of the Night at Saturday’s event.
The Pay-Per-View card, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, saw Lawler and Barberena slug it out, both rocking the other at various points. Barberena was bloodied, but it was Lawler stung late in the second round. When Barberena moved in for the kill, fists seem to bounce off Lawler’s skull left and right before the ref waved it off with “Ruthless” still standing, but hardly cognizant of his surroundings.
Barberena gets the win, both men get $50,000 for the Fight of the Night.
Three more fighters picked up $50,000 post-fight bonuses at UFC 276, with three Performance bonuses handed out. That continues a recent trend of the promotion being extra generous, and eschewing the usual “Fight of the Night and two Performance of the Night bonuses” template.
Among those rewarded for their individual efforts at UFC 276 was Julija Stoliarenko, who nearly took Jessica-Rose Clark’s arm home with her care of a first-round arm-bar in their card-opener. Stoliarenko had entered the fight 0-3 in the octagon, meaning the finish likely saved her job as well.
Alex Pereira made short work of Sean Strickland on the main card, turning out the lights on Strickland care of a well-placed hook. Perhaps better than the $50,000 for Pereira is that he likely secured himself a shot at the middleweight title.
Jalin Turner, meanwhile, notched his fifth straight win and fifth straight finish when he trapped Brad Riddell in a guillotine choke.
