UFC 298 bonuses: Robert Whittaker vs. Paulo Costa snubbed as Ilia Topuria, Mackenzie Dern, and three others bag $50K
The new featherweight king Ilia Topuria was among the fighters who were handed out the UFC 298 bonuses on Feb. 17.
'El Matador' took on Alexander Volkanovski for the featherweight championship in the main event of UFC 298. Topuria shocked the world by scoring a brutal knockout win in the second round of the fight. With the victory, the 27-year-old became the only fighter to defeat Volkanovski at featherweight in the UFC.
The new champion received a $50,000 bonus for his incredible knockout.
Amanda Lemos and Mackenzie Dern engaged in a thrilling back-and-forth battle that went the allotted 15-minute distance. In the end, Lemos was declared the winner via unanimous decision. The three judges scored the bout in favor of the 36-year-old.
The contest was awarded the 'Fight of the Night' honors and both fighters took home an additional cheque of $50,000 each.
Anthony Hernandez and Roman Kopylov faced off in a middleweight showdown on the main card of UFC 298. 'Fluffy' proved himself to be the better fighter that night and scored an impressive victory via rear-naked choke in the second round. The victory resulted in Hernandez also being among the 'Performance of the Night' winners and received a bonus cheque of $50,000 for his efforts.
Another impressive performance came during the prelims clash Zhang Mingyang and Brendson Ribeiro. 'Mountain Tiger' delivered a thrilling moment to the fans present at the Honda Center as he finished his opponent via knockout in the opening minutes of the fight.
He was also among the winners of the 'Performance of the Night' bonus for the event and received an additional sum of $50,000.
In the UFC 298 co-main event, Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa blew the roof off the Honda Center and delivered a thrilling three-round war for MMA fans watching around the world. In the end, 'The Reaper' took home the victory via unanimous decision. But surprisingly, the encounter was snubbed from any UFC bonuses of the event.