UFC 290 Aftermath: two fighters break hands, Dricus Du Plessis and 3 others bag UFC bonuses, T-Mobile Arena sells out with nearly 10M gate
UFC 290, one of the promotion's biggest events of the year, lived up to the hype by delivering numerous memorable moments throughout the card. The event took place on July 8 at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada and was stacked with exciting matchups from top to bottom.
19,204 people were present in the -T-Mobile Arena to witness the event live and the promotion earned a whopping $9.75 million in terms of gate revenue.
Some injuries also took place on the fight card. At the UFC 290 post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White revealed that Dan Hooker broke his wrist in the second round against Jalin Turner.
In the co-main event, Brandon Moreno also broke his hand in the opening round of the 25-minute championship fight against Alexandre Pantoja.
You can watch the press conference below:
Dricus du Plessis shocked the world by knocking out former champion Robert Whittaker in the second round of their middleweight encounter. The 29-year-old was awarded the 'Performance of the Night' bonus worth $50,000.
After the fight, the South African got into a heated face-off against middleweight king Israel Adesanya inside the octagon.
In the prelims of UFC 290, Denise Gomes ran through her opponent Yazmin Jauregui and knocked her out just 20 seconds into the fight. Gomes was also picked as the winner of the UFC bonus and received an additional paycheck of $50,000 for her efforts.
Alexandre Pantoja and Brandon Moreno blew the roof off the T-Mobile Arena and delivered a memorable five-round back-and-forth war. The fight was razor-close and ended with a split decision victory for 'The Cannibal'.
The encounter was declared 'Fight of the Night' and both fighters received an additional sum of $50,000 each.
UFC 290 ends with Alexander Volkanovski standing victorious
At UFC 290, featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski further cemented his legacy as one of the best athletes to compete in the UFC.
'The Great' headlined the event in a championship fight against Yair Rodriguez. Volkanovski used his grappling to score multiple takedowns in the fight but eventually, the Australian emerged victorious via knockout in the third round.
On his way out, Volkanovski had a conversation with Ilia Topuria, hinting that 'El Matador' might be his next opponent at featherweight.