For its biggest card of the year so far, the UFC upped the ante with its post-fight bonus awards.
Instead of the customary $50,000 extra checks, the promotion went with $75,000 prizes at UFC 264, which took place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The event, headlined by the highly anticipated trilogy fight between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor, was the UFC’s return to fighting in front of fans in “Sin City.”
Check out the UFC 264 post-fight bonus winners below.
Performance of the Night: Tai Tuivasa
Jul 10, 2021; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Tai Tuivasa lands hits for a knockout victory against Greg Hardy during UFC 264 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Tai Tuivasa (13-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) had just gotten clipped by Greg Hardy (7-4 MMA, 4-4 UFC) in their heavyweight fight on the main card. But he fired back, clipped Hardy himself, and Hardy went down. Tuivasa pounced on him on the canvas and landed enough punches with Hardy covering up to get the stoppage in just 67 seconds. [vertical-gallery id=632119]
Performance of the Night: Dricus Du Plessis
South Africa’s Dricus Du Plessis (16-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) never has won a fight by going the distance, and against Trevin Giles (14-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC), he made it two straight KOs to open his UFC career. [vertical-gallery id=631943]
Fight of the Night: Sean O’Malley vs. Kris Moutinho
Sean O’Malley (14-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) was the biggest favorite on the card against short-notice replacement opponent Kris Moutinho (9-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC). The bantamweights opened the main card, and against a 10-1 favorite, Moutinho should have never been in the fight – on paper, anyway. O’Malley landed a whopping 230 total strikes, and Moutinho walked through most of them. But with just 27 seconds left in the fight, Herb Dean had seen him take enough punches and shut things down with Moutinho taking punches on the feet. Despite the loss, Moutinho likely picked up plenty of new fans for his ability to take punches and keep coming forward. [listicle id=631499] [vertical-gallery id=632075] [vertical-gallery id=631884] [vertical-gallery id=631886]
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