Following last night’s UFC Fight Night 233 event the recipients of the evening’s $50,000 bonus awards were announced.
Co-main event winner Khalil Rountree Jr was one of four fighters to earn a ‘Performance Of The Night’ bonus after his hard-hitting punches proved too much for short-notice replacement Anthony Smith.
Smith was trying to implement a pressure-based game-plan, but it failed to pay off as Rountree was faster and harder-hitting on the counter. Rountree left his opponent on wobbly legs after a big hook early in the second round and that proved to just be a taste of things to come as early in the third round he connected with a huge uppercut and left hand behind it that this time resulted in Smith completely losing control of his legs and falling to the mat to seal the TKO finish.
Nasrat Haqparast earned his performance bonus after he floored Jamie Mullarkey with a powerful left hand and then unleashed a barrage of uppercuts as he got back to his feet in a daze, before sending him right back down with a right hook for a knockout finish just 1.44mins into the fight.
Tim Elliott only had a few days notice for his fight against Sumudaerji, but it all worked out well for him as he got his opponent to the mat in the opening round and then worked his way into position for an arm-triangle choke to put his opponent to sleep at 4.02mins of the first round and take home a performance bonus into the bargain.
Earlier in the night, Hyunsung Park also won a performance bonus after he took over his fight with Shannon Ross in the second round, hurting him with a front kick to the body and then landing two hooks to the same spot to fold up his opponent for a TKO finish.
