Derrick Lewis might be the UFC‘s “Knockout King,” but royalty or no, he was left out of the post-fight bonuses at UFC Nashville on Saturday.
Lewis made short work of Tallison Teixeira in a wild but brief slugfest that saw him swinging for the fences after absorbing a Teixeira punch that appeared to blur the heavyweight behemoth’s vision. Still, when Lewis connects clean, it’s often lights out, and Teixeira did hit the canvas – though he would make it back up, thanks to a blatant fence grab. The ref, however, would stop the bout on the feet.
There wasn’t too much controversy in the end, given how hard Teixeira went down, but perhaps that was enough to shun Lewis come bonus time. Instead, Fatima Kline, who finished off Melissa Martinez with a head kick, and Valter Walker, who landed his third(!) straight heel hook submission, earned Performance of the Night bonuses at UFC Nashville.
Fight of the Night went to Morgan Charriere and Nate Landwehr, who put on a thrilling battle for two rounds before France’s Charriere finally connected early in round three. Swinging with wild, looping hooks, Charriere connected, Landwehr slumped down against the fence, and that was all she wrote.
All four bonus-winners at UFC Nashville will pocket $50,000 U.S. for their efforts, on top of their regular purse, outfitting pay, and any other discretionary bonuses.
