The Octagon returned to Las Vegas for tonight’s UFC 279 event, a thirteen-bout fight card headlined by Nate Diaz vs. Tony Ferguson.
Tonight’s welterweight main event proved to be a solid back and forth affair. Nate Diaz got off to a strong start in the opening round, but ‘El Cucuy’ battled back in rounds two and three. Then, in round four, Diaz found a home for a barrage of punches which led to ‘El Cucuy’ shooting desperately for a takedown. Nate quickly sunk in a guillotine choke and the fight was over.
The co-main event of UFC 279 featured a highly anticipated 180lbs catchweight contest resulted in another dominant performance for Khamzat Chimaev. ‘Borz’ was able to get the fight to the ground early and immediately began working for submissions. After some scrambles and transitions, ‘The Wolf’ sunk in a fight-ending choke.
Following the conclusion of today’s event, UFC officials announced at the post-fight press conference that four fighters would be taking home performance bonuses.
Performance of the night: Nate Diaz pocketed an extra $50k for his fourth round submission victory over Tony Ferguson in tonight’s UFC 279 co-main event. Diaz finished the bout with a guillotine choke.
Performance of the night: Johnny Walker earned an extra $50k for his first round submission victory over Ion Cutelaba (see that here).
Performance of the night: Irene Aldana pocketed an extra $50k for her nasty up-kick to the liver finish over Macy Chiasson. The fight-ending strike was the first of it’s kind in the UFC.
Performance of the night: Jailton Almeida earned an extra $50k for his first round submission victory over Anton Turkalj.
Are you surprised by any of the performance bonuses handed out by Dana White and company following the conclusion of tonight’s UFC 279 event?