The UFC handed out five post-fight bonuses after Saturday’s card, including two to two new champions.
After UFC 285, five fighters picked up an extra $50,000 for their performances in Las Vegas. Check out the winners below.
Performance of the Night: Bo Nickal
Bo Nickal vs. Jamie Pickett via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 1, 2:54
Bo Nickal (4-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) did exactly what he predicted he’d do in his UFC debut against Jamie Pickett (13-9 MMA, 2-5 UFC). Nickal, one of the most highly touted prospects in UFC history, submitted Pickett with relative ease – eventually – after getting him to the canvas early in the fight. Nickal was as much as a 19-1 betting favorite.
Performance of the Night: Alexa Grasso
Alexa Grasso def. Valentina Shevchenko via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 4, 4:34
Alexa Grasso (16-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) pulled off one of the biggest upsets in UFC history when she submitted dominant women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko (23-4 MMA, 12-3 UFC) in the fourth round. Shevchenko threw a spinning back kick toward the midsection that missed, and in the matter of a second, Grasso took advantage, took the champion’s back, took her to the canvas and after a few moments forced her to tap away her title with a rear-naked choke. Grasso was a 25-1 underdog to win by submission. Shevchenko was as much as a 12-1 favorite at some sports books.
Fight of the Night: Jon Jones
Jon Jones def. Ciryl Gane via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 2:04
Jon Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) likely cemented himself as the greatest fighter in MMA history when he won the vacant heavyweight title with a first-round submission of Ciryl Gane (11-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC). Jones, the former longtime light heavyweight champ, returned from a layoff of more than three years and won the belt in his debut in the weight class. He was a slight favorite over Gane, a former interim titleholder, but had little difficulty taking him to the canvas to choke him out and become a two-division champion.
Fight of the Night: Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Geoff Neal
Geoff Neal vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 4:17
Shavkat Rakhmonov (17-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) stayed perfect with a big win over Geoff Neal (15-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC) in a back-and-forth fight that Rakhmonov ultimately won with a late submission with less than a minute left. Because Neal missed weight by four pounds Friday, he normally would have been ineligible for a post-fight bonus, which would have meant Rakhmonov would double up with $100,000. But UFC president Dana White said Neal will get his $50,000: “Neal didn’t make weight, (and) I don’t give a sh*t. I’m paying him (a bonus) anyway,” White said at the post-fight news conference.
