UFC president Dana White gave out “Fight Night” bonuses to Anderson Silva, Chael Sonnen, Stefan Struve, and Matt Hughes for their work as part of “UFC 117: Silva vs. Sonnen” in Oakland, Calif. Two “Submission of the Night” bonuses were handed out with each fighter earning $60,000. Champ Anderson Silva walked away with two bonuses to earn $120,000 for his win.
The “Fight of the Night” honor was given to defending champion Silva and Sonnen for their five round bout. The champ also earned the “Submission of the Night” bonus for his fifth round triangle choke submission of Sonnen to come from behind to saving his title. If Silva hadn’t of secured the submission, he would most have certainly been defeated as Sonnen dominated every round of the fight on paper.
The 6′11″ Struve, who had the second best “Come-back of the Night” after Silva, managed to stop opponent Christian Morecraft at the 0:22 second mark of the second round after suffering a heavy beating throughout the first round. The “Skyscraper” was beaten so badly that doctors took extra time between rounds to asses his injuries, but luckily for Struve, allowed him to carry on anyway.
The second “Submission of the Night” bonus was won by UFC Hall of Famer Hughes who had fans on their feet for submitting welterweight opponent Ricardo Almeida in the opening round. Hughes landed a left hand that staggered Almeida and quickly chased his opponent to the mat. The former UFC champ managed a modified arm-triangle choke from the front and squeezed till Almeida was put out to win the fight at 3:15 of the first.