As UFC CEO and President Dana White admitted following UFC Seattle, it was no easy task to choose the Fight Night card’s post-fight bonuses.
Saturday’s event at the Climate Pledge Arena turned out to be a winner, with all six fights on the main card ending in finishes, with three more on the preliminary portion of the event.
That left a number of fighters settling for $25,000 finishing bonuses, while Joe Pyfer and Alexa Grasso earned $100,000 Performance of the Night bonuses.
Pyfer earned a TKO finish of Israel Adesanya, the end coming in the second round. Grasso’s performance stole the night, however, by knocking out Maycee Barber in the co-main event, then jumping on a rear-naked choke. It all happened so fast that the ref was still on the way in, an essentially dazed Barber not even aware of what was happening and wrestling the official’s leg when the choke was released.
It was a knockout in the end, not a submission, as the ref had already made the call to end the fight off the crushing hook that ended it. White was high on the finish in the night’s post-fight press conference. “I think it’s one of the greatest finishes in the sport’s history, let alone this year or tonight or whatever,” he stated.
Later, White admitted that “it was a rough night to pick bonuses, but that’s always a good problem to have.”
Tofiq Musayev, who beat Ignacio Bahamondes on the scorecards in a bloody war that saw Chile’s Bahamondes split open, shared Fight of the Night with his opponent.
All four bonus winners take home $100,000 U.S., while Navajo Stirling, Casey O’Neill, Lance Gibson Jr., Terrance McKinney, Yousri Belgaroui, Lerryan Douglas, and Michael Chiesa all pick up $25,000 finish bonuses.
