While the scorecards of the
UFC on ESPN 38 headliner figure to be a hot topic in the coming
days, both Mateusz
Gamrot and Arman
Tsarukyan received some extra compensation for their work on
Saurday night.
Gamrot and Tsarukyan garnered “Fight of the Night” honors and
$50,000 apiece for their competitive lightweight clash at the UFC
Apex in Las Vegas. Thanks to multiple takedowns and a strong
finish, Gamrot emerged with a closely-contested unanimous decision
triumph, but there were plenty of observers who felt Tsarukyan
deserved the nod in a back-and-forth bout.
Advertisement
Elsewhere, Shavkat
Rakhmonov received a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check
thanks to his second-round submission of Neil Magny in
the welterweight co-main event. Rakhmonov dominated the contest
from top position before forcing his opponent to tap to a
guillotine choke at the 4:58 mark of Round 2.
Josh
Parisian earned a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award
thanks to a comeback victory over Alan Baudot
in a featured heavyweight bout. After being dropped and nearly
finished in Round 1, the “Ultimate Fighter 28” cast member rallied
to finish Baudot with ground-and-pound 3:04 into the second
stanza.
Finally, Thiago
Moises was the recipient of a third $50,000 “Performance of the
Night” bonus by virtue of a first-round submission of Christos
Giagos in a lightweight feature. Moises secured an early
takedown before jumping on his opponent’s back to secure a
rear-naked choke victory at the 3:05 mark of Round 1.