Dan Hardy celebrates after winning his first bout in five fights by stopping Duane Ludwig – Photo by Josh Hedges for UFC.com
Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White was feeling generous Saturday night (May 26, 2012), handing out four “Fight Night” bonuses of $70,000 to Roy ‘Big Country’ Nelson, Dan ‘The Outlaw’ Hardy, Stefan ‘Skyscraper’ Struve, and Paul Sass.
The UFC pres gave “Knockout of the Night” bonuses to both Nelson and Hardy, while Struve and Sass were given the “Submission of the Night” bonus. No “Fight of the Night” bonus was awarded.
White also announced that UFC 146: Dos Santos vs. Mir drew an attendance of 14,592 fans into the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada for a live gate of $3.4 million.
Nelson earned a quick 51-second finish of Dave Herman on the main card, finishing ‘Pee Wee’ with an overhand right. Hardy meanwhile, ended a four fight losing streak after landing a left hook to the chin of opponent Duane Ludwig in their FX broadcasted prelim bout. Hardy needed 3:51 seconds to earn his first victory since November 2009.
Struve faced late replacement Lavar ‘Big’ Johnson in the opening bout of the pay-per-view card, and wasted little time taking the fight to the ground where he quickly switched to an armbar submission to force the tap at 1:05. Sass ended the five-fight win streak of Jacob Volkmann utilizing his patented triangle choke submission to force an end at 1:54 of the first.