#performance-of-the-night

#performance-of-the-night

Joshua Van and Tatsuro Taira produced an instant classic at UFC 328. Van and Taira received "Fight of the Night" honors and $100,000 apiece for their back-and-forth battle in Saturday's co-main event at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. After struggle to defend his opponent's takedowns early, Van began to assert his dominance on the feet, ultimately defeating Taira via technical knockout at the 1:32 mark of Round 5 to retain the 125-pound belt.

Mason Jones and Axel Sola left it all in the Octagon at UFC London, earning 'Fight of the Night' honors and $100,000 apiece for their preliminary slugfest.

Octagon newcomer Imanol Rodriguez earned a $100,000 "Performance of the Night" bonus for his stoppage of Kevin Borjas in a flyweight tilt. Rodriguez survived being floored twice in the opening stanza before dropping his foe with an overhand right near the fence in Round 2. A barrage of follow-up shots sealed his victory at the 4:21 mark of the period.

On a card with just five finishes, four Performance of the Night bonuses were awarded, with the main card producing all four winners. Among them was main event winner Sean Strickland, who had a vintage showing against Anthony Hernandez across two and a half rounds. The end came care of a knee, which "Fluffy" immediately reacted to. As he tried to recover, Strickland swarmed, unloading lefts and rights and finishing with a few strikes while Hernandez was on the ground.

As the UFC's ESPN era draws to a close, there has been a noticeable lack of Fight of the Night bonuses awarded, with the promotion instead selecting Performance bonuses more often than not. For the fourth consecutive event, that was the case on Saturday, with four Performance of the Night bonuses instead handed out at UFC Qatar. Among the winners, the returning Kyoji Horiguchi, and short-notice heavyweight Waldo Cortes-Acosta.

With nary a dull fight on the card, the UFC brass had plenty of options for post-fight bonuses at UFC Paris. In the end, forgoing a Fight of the Night, the promotion opted to award four Performance of the Night bonuses following Saturday's Fight Night event at the Accor Arena in Paris, France. Among the winners, incoming heavyweight Ante Delija, a former PFL champion who the UFC had first attempted to sign years ago.

Elijah Smith, with Gilbert Smith in his corner, landed a Rampage Jackson-style slam knockout on Toshiomi Kazama in the opening round of their bantamweight fight.

"I think my career is going just how it's supposed to be, just how it was destined to be. I came off of two losses after having all wins and mostly knockouts, so I felt unstoppable as an amateur and an early pro."