The Octagon returned to Texas for tonight’s UFC Houston event, and four fighters wound up taking home performance bonuses.
The fight card was headlined by a key middleweight matchup featuring former division champion Sean Strickland taking on Anthony Hernandez. The bout proved to be a return to glory for the promotion’s former middleweight champ in Sean Strickland. The 34-year-old was able to utilize his snapping left jab to overwhelm and frustrate Hernandez throughout the opening two rounds. Then, in round three, Strickland landed a crushing knee to the body that clearly hurt ‘Fluffy’. Smelling blood, Sean rushed in with a flurry of punches that resulted in Anthony going down and the eventual referee stoppage (see that here). It was an amazing showing and after the victory Stickland proceeded to callout current 185lbs title holder Khamzat Chimaev.
UFC Houston was co-headlined by a welterweight contest between Geoff Neal and Uros Medic. The bout resulted in a spectacular first-round knockout victory for Medic. ‘The Doctor’ floored Neal with a beautiful left hook that spelled an immediate end to the contest.
Following the conclusion of tonight’s event, UFC officials announced at the post-fight press conference that 4 fighters would be taking home performance bonuses.
Performance of the night: Sean Strickland picked up an extra $100k for his sensational third-round TKO victory over Anthony Hernandez in tonight’s UFC Houston main event. The former champ stopped ‘Fluffy’ in the third-round with a nasty knee to the body followed by a flurry of punches.
Performance of the night: Jacobe Smith took home an extra $100k for his first-round knockout victory over Josiah Harrell (see that here).
Performance of the night: Melquizael Costa earned an extra $100k for his first-round TKO victory over Dan Ige. Costa dropped Ige with a spectacular spinning back kick to the face and then finished him with punches on the ground (see that here).
Performance of the night: Uros Medic pocketed an extra $100k for his sensational one-punch knockout victory over Geoff Neal in this evening’s co-headliner (see that here).
Are you surprised by any of the performance bonuses handed out by Dana White and company following the conclusion of tonight’s UFC Houston event? Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!