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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Four fighters took home an extra $85,000 for their performances on Saturday's UFC 115 card in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, as Rich Franklin, Mirko Cro Cop, Carlos Condit and Rory MacDonald were awarded the "Fight NIght" bonuses for the event.
Franklin earned the night's "Knockout of the Night" for his first round knockout of Chuck Liddell in the night's main event. The KO came with five seconds left in the round after Franklin had broken his left arm blocking a kick early in the fight.
Cro Cop took home the "Submission of the Night" for his surprising rear naked choke victory over Pat Barry in the third round of the co-main event. After surviving a first round that saw Barry damage the left side of his face, Cro Cop turned the fight in his favor in the second, and dropped Barry with a flurry in the third before locking on the choke.
20 year old Rory MacDonald made a big impression in his first pay-per-view appearance, winning the first two rounds of his fight with Carlos Condit before the 26 year old former WEC Champion took over in the third. Condit beat up the undefeated fighter in that round, battering him from the start, with the ref mercifully putting an end to the beating with ten seconds left in the fight.
Penick's Analysis: There's a strong case that Mike Pyle should have earned the "Submission of the Night" with his third round triangle choke over Jesse Lennox on the prelims. He's a fighter that definitely could have used the $85K a lot more than Cro Cop, but at the same time it was a submission in a fight that no one thought would hit the ground, and on top of that was the co-main event, possibly giving it more weight. Still, Franklin definitely earned his bonus, as did Condit and MacDonald who had the "Fight of the Year" thus far. On that note, I'm not sure another fight will surpass it the rest of the year.
RELATED STORY: UFC 115 RESULTS: Rich Franklin knocks out Chuck Liddell in the first after suffering a broken arm: [CLICK TO READ ARTICLE]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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