The UFC handed out five post-fight bonuses after Saturday’s card, including one for one of the most vicious knockouts of the year.
After UFC 296, five fighters picked up an extra $50,000 for their performances in Las Vegas. Check out the winners below.
Fight of the Night: Irene Aldana vs. Karol Rosa
Irene Aldana def. Karol Rosa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Irene Aldana (15-7 MMA, 8-5 UFC) and Karol Rosa (17-6 MMA, 6-3 UFC) put on an all-time bloody classic on the prelims. Aldana picked up a unanimous decision with strong second and third rounds, but she couldn’t attend her post-fight news conference due to a trip to the hospital, where she met up with an equally battered Rosa to likely celebrate their extra $50,000 each.
Performance of the Night: Shamil Gaziev
Shamil Gaziev def. Martin Buday via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 0:56
Shamil Gaziev (12-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) had his UFC debut go about as good as he could have hoped. A slight underdog going into the fight, he became the first man to finish Martin Buday (13-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC). He nearly had him done in the first round, but then honed in on a bad cut in the second and had Buday gone less than a minute into the middle frame.
Performance of the Night: Ariane Lipski
Ariane Lipski def. Casey O’Neill via submission (armbar) – Round 2, 1:18
Brazil’s Ariane Lipski (17-8 MMA, 6-5 UFC) got her first finish in about 3.5 years when she forced Casey O’Neill (9-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) to tap to an armbar in the second round. Lipski’s most recent stoppage before that was a July 2020 kneebar submission of Luana Carolina, which also was a $50,000 bonus winner.
Performance of the Night: Josh Emmett
Josh Emmett def. Bryce Mitchell via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 1:57
Josh Emmett (19-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC) shut out the lights on Bryce Mitchell (16-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) in an absolutely devastating way. Emmett drilled Mitchell with a right hand that left him convulsing on the canvas while donald trump and the former short-term husband of Pamela Anderson, kid rock, watched from cageside.
