Winners of the “Fight Night” bonuses from Wednesday nights (February 15, 2012) UFC on FUEL TV: Sanchez vs. Ellenberger event earned an extra $50,000 for their performances in Omaha.
Walking away with a bonus were fighters Stipe Miocic, Ivan Menjivar, as well as headliners Jake Ellenberger and Diego Sanchez.
Heavyweight Miocic earned the “Knockout of the Night” bonus after finishing opponent Phil De Fries at 43-seconds of the first round. De Fries scored early with his own strikes, but quickly succumbed to Miocic’s counter-strikes which caused De Fries to tumble to the mat where the undefeated Miocic was able to finish the bout.
Opening the main card, Menjivar faced John Albert in their bantamweight bout which saw ‘The Pride of El Salvador’ survive an early onslaught from Albert by sinking in a rear-naked choke to force the tap at 3:45 of the first. The win, Menjivar’s third straight, earned him the “Submission of the Night” bonus.
As predicted by many, earning the “Fight of the Night” bonus were welterweight headliners Jake Ellenbger and Diego Sanchez. Both men would battle for three rounds to the loud applause of the Omaha crowd. Ellenberger would do most of the damage in the first two and would have to survive a late surge by Sanchez in the third to eventually win a unanimous decision by scores of 29-28 from all three judges.
UFC on FUEL TV: Sanchez vs. Ellenberger took place at the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Nebraska with the main card airing live on FUEL TV and the prelim card streaming live on Facebook/Youtube.