Four fighters from Saturday’s UFC on Versus 6 card in Washington, D.C., added $65,000 bonus checks to their take-home pay after the show.
Stefan Struve, Anthony Johnson, Matt Wiman and Mac Danzig each took home post-fight bonus awards for their performances in the final UFC event on the Versus channel. The post-fight awards were announced by UFC president Dana White after the card.
The $65,000 total equals the largest amount for a UFC show on either Versus or Spike, tying the $65,000 bonus awards that were handed out after UFC on Versus 5 in Milwaukee in August. UFC on Versus 6 was the promotion’s debut in the nation’s capital.
Struve, the tallest heavyweight in the UFC, fought the shortest heavyweight in what became a fun kickboxing bout. But when Struve got the fight to the ground and locked in a triangle in the co-main event, Barry used his power to muscle Struve to the sky for a massive slam with the triangle still locked in. Struve though, held the hold, sank it in even tighter and forced Barry to tap, giving Struve the Submission of the Night bonus. It was Barry’s second straight loss, the first losing streak of his career. In June, after nearly stopping Cheick Kongo, Kongo pulled off an epic comeback knockout victory.
“He kept me at bay with his kicks because those were landing hard and will definitely leave bruises tomorrow,” Struve said after the win. “I was eventually able to get him in the [choke], and once I locked it in I wasn’t letting it go. When he slammed me, I was able to put my arm down to catch myself and sink the submission in deeper.”
Johnson won Knockout of the Night for his head-kick finish of Charlie Brenneman on the main card. Though Brenneman popped back up quickly after Johnson’s left kick to the face, referee Mario Yamasaki had already stepped in to shut the fight down, and the official decision was a TKO for Johnson.
“I hit him hard quite a few times in a row and he didn’t look like he was all there,” Johnson said. “I landed that head kick and put him on the canvas. He looked done to me, but if that kick hadn’t have done it, the punches that would have come afterwards would have.”
And Wiman and Danzig rematched after a controversial ending to their first fight in June 2010 – and the reboot was worth the wait. The two battled for three rounds of back-and-forth that earned them Fight of the Night, with Wiman taking a unanimous 29-28 decision. At UFC 115, Wiman won when Yves Lavigne stopped the fight, believing Danzig was out from a choke. He was not, and it’s taken 16 months for the rematch, which was scheduled once but delayed with a Danzig injury.
“Mac did fantastic tonight and has nothing to be ashamed of, because I’ve been on that side of things too,” Wiman said. “But I can’t deny that it feels good to be on this side of things. You really never know what the judges are going think, and I’m just happy it fell to me this time.”
Struve got serious competition from Paul Sass, who submitted Michael Johnson with a heel hook on the preliminary card. Sass stayed unbeaten with the submission and now has 11 of his 12 career wins by tapout. And Wiman-Danzig got competition from the main event bantamweight title fight between champion Dominick Cruz and Demetrious Johnson. But it was likely Cruz’s large amount of time spent keeping Johnson pinned along the fence that kept them from the bonus.