Jonathan
Martinez received a little extra compensation for his wicked
striking display in the
UFC Fight Night 212 co-headliner.
Advertisement
The Factory X standout garnered a $50,000 “Performance of the
Night” bonus for his second-round technical knockout victory over
Cub
Swanson in the bantamweight bout on Saturday at the UFC Apex in
Las Vegas. Martinez battered Swanson with kicks to the body, knees
and elbows, but it was a series of vicious leg kicks that led to
stoppage at the 4:19 mark of Round 2. It was the 14th stoppage
stemming from leg kicks in promotion history.
Meanwhile, Dusko
Todorovic and Jordan
Wright earned “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece
for their back-and-forth middleweight scrap. Wright controlled the
action in Round 1 with takedowns, submission defense and
ground-and-pound, but momentum shifted considerably in the second
stanza, when Todorovic swarmed his fatigued foe, powered into mount
and finished the fight with elbows and punches from above at the
3:12 mark.
Finally, Japanese prospect Tatsuro
Taira took home the card’s other $50,000 “Performance of the
Night” check thanks to a submission of C.J. Vergara
on the preliminary card. Taira grounded his foe early in Round 2
and spent much of the period threatening with a rear-naked choke
before transitioning to an armbar to elicit a tapout at the 4:19
mark.