After Luke Rockhold finished Costas Philippou via a violent kicking assault to his liver, we were reminded that Bas Rutten may have had the right idea all along.
It was a coming-out party of sorts for Rockhold, who had last been seen in a losing effort to the Brazilian buzzsaw that is Vitor Belfort back in May of 2013 at UFC on FX: Belfort vs. Rockhold.
Rockhold is now back to his winning ways, and given the schedule the UFC has planned for 2014, his options are wide open. He pulled in top-dollar honors with his $80,000 effort against Philippou and stands at 10-1 in his last 11 fights.
Meanwhile, Cole Miller earned $56,000 by defeating Sam Sicilia and is now left in a bit of a familiar lurch. With his broken hand, he is sidelined yet again and talk of a fight with Connor McGregor or Donald Cerrone will have to be put on the shelf for the time being.
The full salary breakdown comes courtesy of Shaun Al-Shatti of MMAfighting.com.
Luke Rockhold ($40,000 + $40,000 = $80,000) defeats Costas Philippou ($23,000)
Brad Tavares ($16,000 + $16,000 = $32,000) defeats Lorenz Larkinn ($26,000)
T.J. Dillashaw ($14,000 + $14,000 = $28,000) defeats Mike Easton ($14,000)
Yoel Romero ($14,000 + $14,000 = $28,000) defeats Derek Brunson ($19,000)
John Moraga ($17,000 + $17,000 = $34,000) defeats Dustin Ortiz ($10,000)
Cole Miller ($28,000 + $28,000 = $56,000) defeats Sam Sicilia ($10,000)
Ramsey Nijem ($14,000 + $14,000 = $28,000) defeats Justin Edwards ($10,000)
Elias Silverio ($10,000 + $10,000 = $20,000) defeats Isaac Vallie-Flagg ($12,000)
Trevor Smith ($8,000 + $8,000 = $16,000) defeats Brian Houston ($8,000)
Louis Smolka ($8,000 + $8,000 = $16,000) defeats Alptekin Ozkilic ($10,000)
Vinc Pichel ($8,000 + $8,000 = $16,000) defeats Garett Whiteley ($8,000)
Beneil Dariush ($8,000 + $8,000 = $16,000) defeats Charlie Brenneman ($10,000)
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