UFC 172 Fighter Bonuses: All the Post-Fight Honors Go to Preliminary Bout Fighters
The Ultimate Fighting Championship made its Baltimore debut with UFC 172: Jones vs. Teixeira at the Baltimore Arena on Saturday night, and the fighters on the card did not make it easy for company officials to select the night’s post-fight bonus winners.
Each winner was awarded an additional $50,000 in addition to his contracted fight purse. All of the winners fought on the preliminary portion of the fight card.
The Fight of the Night honors went to Takanori Gomi and Isaac Vallie-Flagg. The two took turns taking the fight to the other, but it was the former Shoot and Pride champion, Gomi, that earned the unanimous decision victory.
Joseph Benavidez headlined the preliminary bouts on Fox Sports 1 in his fight with Tim Elliott. Elliott did his best to take the fight to him, but it was Benavidez that sunk in a deep guillotine choke for a Performance of the Night bonus.
The other Performance of the Night honor went to former MMAWeekly.com The Ultimate Fighter 18 blogger Chris Beal, who was making his official UFC debut on Saturday night.
Beal and Patrick Williams opened the show. Williams took the fight to Beal early, but less than two minutes into the second stanza, Beal landed a perfectly timed knee to Williams’ jaw that left him out cold on the canvas.
