(photo taken from ufc.com)
Dana White and the UFC have awarded 4 fighters with special bonuses on last Saturday night’s UFC 85: Bedlam. Bonuses were released after deciding who were the best fighters that landed within the following three categories:
- Submssion of the Night was awarded to Kevin Burns as he defeated Roan Carneiro via a triangle choke submission at 2:53 of the second round. Kevin Burns vs. Roan Carneiro was part of the preliminary card and was shown on the UFC pay-per-view show. Although Burns was called in as a late replacement for Ryo Chonan, he was still able to acquire his first win at his UFC debut.
- Knockout of the Night was given to Thiago "Pitbull" Alves who completely destroyed Matt Hughes with a flying knee and then quickly finished off the former welterweight champ via TKO-strikes. Alves was penalized (a percentage of his purse was taken away) last Friday before the fight for being 4 pounds heavier. However, Hughes accepted the fight and Alves paid him back by beating him that night. It was unfortunate for Hughes as he loses his second in a row. As for the Pitbull, this victory definitely brings him closer to the title. We’ll just have to wait and see if this will be part of Dana’s agenda.
- Fight of the Night went out to Matt Wiman and Thiago Tavares, which was also part of the preliminary card. This bout was replayed as a non-live fight during the pay-per-view event. Although Wiman took home the victory over Tavares that night, the fight could have gone either way. The slug fest ended at 1:57 of the second round as Wiman defeated Tavares via KO-punches.
Each of the fighters that were awarded the bonus, received $50,000 USD in addition to their paycheck. UFC 84 bonus winners won $75,000 USD, which was $25,000 USD more than UFC 85. There is no specific reason as to why there was a significant reduction in bonus money.
