The final Pay-Per-View card of 2024 for the UFC is in the books, with some big finishes transpiring at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday.
Those big finishes led to four Performance of the Night bonuses being awarded, in lieu of a Fight of the Night. Among the winning fighters cashing in, flyweight champ Alexandre Pantoja, who proved that an immediate title shot for RIZIN star Kai Asakura was too big of an ask.
A rare situation in the modern era (Gilbert Melendez and Joe Soto received immediate shots at gold in 2013 and 2014, respectively, though the latter was an injury replacement), Asakura was the latest fighter to try and fail for a UFC championship in his promotional debut. After a big jump knee attempt in the opening seconds of the UFC 310 main event, Asakura failed to make much of an impact, with reigning champ Pantoja out-striking him in the opening round. In the second, “The Cannibal” took the fight to the mat, got a body lock in place, and choked the Japanese challenger unconscious.
That was enough to earn Pantoja an extra $50,000 by way of a Performance of the Night bonus. It was also the second technical submission to cash out, with Vicente Luque choking out Themba Gorimbo earlier in the night for another Performance bonus.
The remaining two Performance of the Night bonuses at UFC 310 went to Kennedy Nzechukwu, who put away Lukasz Brzeski for his second victory at heavyweight, and Chase Hooper. Hooper was another fighter whose submission skills shined bright in the desert on Saturday, as he put away veteran Clay Guida with an arm-bar.
