Following an exciting night of finishes at UFC Fight Night 77, four fighters were given $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonuses.
Vitor Belfort, Thomas Almeida, Alex Oliveira, and Thiago Tavares each earned their bonuses with stoppage wins, with Belfort closing things out in the night’s main event with a head kick and follow up strikes on the ground over Dan Henderson.
24-year-old Thomas Almeida had the highlight of the night, taking out Anthony Birchak with a sick right hand at the end of the combination. The blow sent Birchak slumping to the ground, and gave Almeida his 21st career win in 21 career fights.
Oliveira had a KO finish of his own, taking out Piotr Hallmann in the third round. It had been fairly competitive into the final frame, but Oliveira put together some combinations well, finally putting Hallmann out with a right hand in the third frame.
Tavares picked up one of three submissions on the card, catching Clay Guida in a guillotine choke as Guida shot in for an early takedown. He tightened up the hold from there and forced the tap just 39 seconds into the round.
[Photo (c) Jason Silva via USA Today Sports]
Leave a Reply