UFC president Dana White handed out $45,000 in bonuses to all of the “Fight Night” award winners Friday night following the UFC on FX: Guillard vs. Miller event.
Walking away with bonuses were newcomer Nick Denis for “Knockout of the Night”, Jim Miller earned his third “Submission of the Night” bonus, and “Fight of the Night” would go to heavyweights Pat Barry and opponent Christian Morecraft.
Bantamweight Nick Denis made quite an impression in his UFC® debut. The Canadian nicknamed “The Ninja of Love” showed no love to opponent Joseph Sandoval, finishing him with elbow strikes just 22 seconds into the first round. For his performance, Denis earned Knockout of the Night honors.
Headliner Jim Miller earned Submission of the Night for his rear naked choke over Melvin Guillard. After finding himself on the receiving end of some powerful strikes from Guillard, Miller got the fight to the floor. From there, Miller used his superior ground skills to earn the tapout 2:02 into the first round.
Pat Barry and Christian Morecraft opened the main card with an entertaining one-round scrap that earned both men Fight of the Night honors. Morecraft had several submission attempts, but Barry was able to show off an improving ground game before stopping Morecraft with punches.
Each bonus winner recived $45,000.
At the post fight press conference it was announced that the event drew 7,728 fans to the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee for a live gate total of $334,860.
The UFC on FX 1 event was the just the second visit by the UFC to that venue, with the first taking place in April 2009 with UFC Fight Night 18.