Check out our breakdown of the post-fight bonuses from UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Branch in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We tell you who won, who didn’t and why.
PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was home to a fun night of fights, with a remarkable seven (T)KOs, one submission and two decisions, both of them split-decisions.
Performances of the Night: Mike Perry and Uriah Hall
Krzysztof Jotko dominated the first round of his fight against the mercurial Uriah Hall, dropping the TUF product and landing dozens of hard shots over the course of the first five minutes. Hall has a reputation for crumbling under pressure, but he survived the onslaught and his perseverance paid off when he landed a clean right hand midway through the second round that knocked Jotko down and out, earning Hall a cool $50,000 bonus.
Alex Reyes stepped in on short notice to replace Thiago Aalves against “Platinum” Mike Perry. Reyes is a natural lightweight and was making his UFC debut, which is the sort of scenario that often results in a one-sided showcase fight. Sure enough, that’s what we saw as Perry walked through Reyes’ shots and destroyed him with a brutal knee in the clinch to get the KO after just 79 seconds. Perry leaves Pittsburgh one step closer to a fight against a top contender and $50K richer.
Fight of the Night: Gregor Gillespie vs Jason Gonzalez
This lightweight scrap had something for everyone. The first round was filled with takedowns, grappling, ground-and-pound and straight up rock-em sock-em robots style back-and-forth brawling as both fighters gave it absolutely everything they had. The second round started at the same furious pace as the first, with both guys exchanging frenetic flurries of shots, until Gillespie picked his moment to shoot in, get the takedown and transition into a silky smooth arm triangle from mount. Fights like this truly display the full breadth of mixed martial arts and it’s great to see both guys rewarded with $50,000 bonus checks for their roles in showcasing everything the sport has to offer.