Following last night’s UFC On ESPN 63 event in Tampa the recipients of the evening’s $50,000 bonus awards were announced.
Earning ‘Fight Of The Night’ honors was the featherweight co-main event scrap between Cub Swanson and Billy Quarantillo, a back-and-forth battle with a stunning finish.
Both fighters had to fight through adversity at times during the fight, and despite Quarantillo pushing a high pace throughout as always, the 41-year-old Swanson not only managed to match him and appeared the faster of the two, but also went on to uncork a thunderous right hand in the third round that knocked his opponent out.
Meanwhile, Michael Johnson earned one of two ‘Performance Of The Night’ awards after he punished Ottman Azaitar for failing to be mindful of his defense when he came pressing forward with a blitz of strikes by catching him with a huge right hook that sent him crashing to the canvas, before following up with a couple more strikes to seal his highlight-reel KO victory.
Continuing the theme of big KO’s the final performance bonus went to Dustin Jacoby, whose fight with Vitor Petrino seemed like it was heading to a relatively uneventful judges decision, much to the frustration of the impatient crowd, up until the moment late in the round when he went all-in on a powerful right hand that landed flush and felled his opponent for a knockout finish.
