UFC Long Island: Six Performance Bonuses, Schnell-Sumudaerji Earns Fight of the Night

Punahele Soriano UFC Long Island
ELMONT, NEW YORK - JULY 16: Punahele Soriano prepares to fight Dalcha Lungiambula of Congo in a middleweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UBS Arena on July 16, 2022 in Elmont, New York. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

With a number of big finishes on the UFC Long Island card, it was another bountiful night for bonuses at the UBS Arena in Elmont, New York on Saturday.

Six performance bonuses were handed out when the dust had cleared, continuing a trend of the promotion awarding extra money that began back at UFC London in March, and continued at UFC 275 and UFC Austin.

Among the big winners, Punahele Soriano picked up an extra $50,000 for his punishing pummelling of Dalcha Lungiambula. Soriano secured the knockout finish early in the second round, capping off the preliminary card portion of the event.

Other UFC Long Island preliminary card fighters including Ricky Simon, who submitted Jack Shore to become the first fighter to defeat the Welsh bantamweight, and Dustin Jacoby were also awarded Performance of the Night. So too was Bill Algeo, who left Herbert Burns in his wake after the Brazilian was unable to continue in their featherweight fight.

On the main card, Amanda Lemos cashed in for her submission of Michelle Waterson-Gomez, while Li Jingling did so too with a nasty TKO of Muslim Salikhov. “The Leech” snapped Salikhov’s five-fight win streak in the process.

Fight of the Night honors went to Round of the Year and Comeback of the Year contender Matt Schnell vs. Sumudaerji, for what was a thrilling flyweight contest. Both men hurt the other in the second frame, with Schnell eventually moving to mount and choking out his opponent care of a triangle.