During the post fight press conference for UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort, promotion President Dana White announced the winners of the “Fight Night” bonuses for their work at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.
Pocketing an extra $75,000 were Anderson Silva, Jon Jones, Donald Cerrone and Paul Kelly.
UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva was awarded the “Knockout of the Night” bonus for his stunning one kick knockout of challenger Vitor Belfort in their main event bout. Not that Silva likely needs the money, and with three (T)KO’s from the preliminary card, Silva’s front kick knockout shocked fans around the world by dispatching Belfort in just three minutes. Many had expected an exciting couple of rounds from both fighters.
The “Submission of the Night” went to Jon “Bones” Jones who could probably use the money since he was involved in a car accident recently. Jones looked very good against an undefeated Ryan Bader, stopping several of his opponents takedowns and securing a guillotine choke from half-guard in the second round. The win has earned him a shot at Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and the UFC light heavyweight title as fellow teammate, Rashad Evans, has been forced out of his title fight due to injury.
Donald Cerrone and Paul Kelly earned the “Fight of the Night” for their fight on the Spike TV broadcasted “UFC Prelims” special. Despite the fact that Cerrone controlled both rounds of the fight, it was still an exciting bout with the “Cowboy” using a rear-naked choke to submit the Brit after gaining Kelly’s back from mount position.