Following last night’s UFC Fight Night 158 event the recipients of the evening’s $50,000 bonus awards were announced.
‘Fight Of The Night’ honors on this occasion went to a main card fight between late replacement Tristan Connelly and Michel Pereira, although late replacement Connelly received a double bonus ($100,000) since his opponent was deemed ineligible to receive his share after having missed weight on Friday.
Connelly’s money was well earned, having taken the fight on 5 days notice and a division above where he usually fights. He had to weather an early storm from Pereira, who threw all manner of acrobatic capoeira style moves in the opening round, but in the process gassed himself out, allowing his tough, gritty opponent to take charge in the remaining rounds to secure a decision victory.
Unsurprisingly, Justin Gaethje earned one of two ‘performance of the night’ awards after he took less than a round to TKO Donald Cerrone in the main event.
Gaethje was beating Cerrone to the punch more often than not in the early exchanges and then just grazed him with a left hook, before a right hook landed squarely and dropped ‘Cowboy’ to his knees. He rose, only to be floored again with another hook, with a few more blows landing on the dazed fighter before the fight was waved off.
Earlier, Misha Cirkunov earned a highlight-reel win over Jimmy Crute, managing to roll on top in the first round with a rarely utilized Peruvian Neck Tie to force the tapout.
