UFC 181 delivered the action we were promised, and four different fighters walked out of the event with an extra $50,000 in performance bonuses.
We will get the bonuses in just a second, but let’s recap the two main event fights first.
Robbie Lawler capped off a remarkable career comeback with a split-decision win over Johny Hendricks to claim the UFC welterweight championship. His former training partner and a former UFC welterweight champion himself, Matt Hughes, was there to put the title around his waist.
In the co-main event, Anthony Pettis defeated Gilbert Melendez with a surprising guillotine in the second round.
Of the four main event fighters, only one would earn a bonus check. The other three fighters were all a part of the UFC 181 preliminary card. Let’s take a gander at the winners of the bonus money in Vegas. Also, per UFC on Fox’s Twitter account:
Fight of the Night: Sergio Pettis vs. Matt Hobar
These two bantamweights put on a show in the second fight of the evening.
Hobar put Pettis on the mat in the first exchange of the fight. Pettis was not in much danger of being finished as he stayed active, but Hobar was able to score more points. When the fight got back to the feet, Hobar was quick to land a takedown.
Pettis had some offense in the first round to make it close, but Hobar‘s early drop of Pettis and takedowns later in the round helped put him out front early.
The younger brother of Anthony Pettis dropped Hobar in the second round with a bodyshot, but he couldn’t finish. Once back on the feet, Pettis continued to hit Hobar.
One of Pettis‘ kicks was caught, and the remainder of the second frame was spent with Pettis searching for a triangle choke.
The decisive third round was Pettis‘. He connected on far more punches and kicks, and he avoided the takedowns of Hobar. He was able to do enough on the judge’s scorecards to take the final frame and the victory.
Hobar put on a nice show with Pettis, and the $50,000 payday will help take the sting out of the loss.
Performance of the Night: Josh Samman
Coming into the fight, a lot was talked about regarding Samman‘s personal tragedies during the past year. He was an emotional favorite, but he was taking on the talented The Ultimate Fighter winner Eddie Gordon.
Gordon’s wrestling and top control was much the story for the first round and some of the second. Samman was not taking too much damage, although it was not beneficial to score points on the scorecards.
In the second round, Gordon was stood up for being inactive. Samman and Gordon had a brief exchange on the feet, and then Samman landed a brutal walk-away head-kick knockout. Gordon collapsed to the mat unconscious, and Samman picked up a big win.
It was a kick that could find itself on a Knockout of the Year shortlist.
Performance of the Night: Anthony Pettis
The lightweight champion retained his gold and picked up a bonus for the guillotine choke. If Pettis was competing against other submission finishes on the night, the other considerations had to go to Raquel Pennington, Urijah Faber and Tony Ferguson.
Pennington perhaps had the most aesthetically pleasing submission finish, as her bulldog choke left Ashlee Evans-Smith face-first on the mat. But it would be Pettis‘ guillotine that trumped it in the eyes of UFC officials.
Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Snowden offered praise for Pettis:
Part of the reason has to be level of competition. We rarely see submission finishes in title bouts, and Pettis has done it in both his last two title tilts. Submitting high-level fighters like Melendez is rare, and even rarer is to do it with a guillotine.
Pettis is known for his kicks and knockout ability, but his submission offense is underrated. Submitting Henderson and Melendez back-to-back is an incredible achievement. He nabbed $50,000 for his impressive second-round submission.
It was a good night with a good amount of finishes and exciting action. UFC 181 lived up to the hype.
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