Denise
Gomes is quickly climbing the leaderboard when it comes to
knockout victories in the strawweight division.
The hard-hitting Brazilian received a $50,000 “Performance of the
Night” bonus for her latest effort — a second-round stoppage of
Elise
Reed in a preliminary contest at UFC
Vegas 106 on Saturday night. Gomes rattled Reed with heavy
punches early in the second stanza, putting her overwhelmed
adversary away 30 seconds into the period. Gomes is now tied for
the second-most KO/TKO victories in UFC strawweight history with
three.
Meanwhile, Michael
Morales captured the evening’s other $50,000 performance bonus
with a first-round finish of Gilbert
Burns in the evening’s main event. The Ecuadorian talent put
his hands to work early and often, and after he thwarted Burns’
attempt to bring the fight to the mat, Morales dropped his foe for
a second time to force the stoppage 3:39 into Round 1.
Finally, Melquizael
Costa and Julian
Erosa earned “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for
their spirited featherweight clash. While Costa hurt Erosa early,
the Xtreme Couture member continued to press forward until the
final horn, which made for plenty of entertaining exchanges over
the course of 15 minutes. Ultimately, Costa emerged with a
unanimous decision triumph.