SUNDAY NEWS DIGEST: Fight of the Night for UFC 202 and more bonus pay details, UFC 202 attendance, two contracts expire, Cerrone 170/155 update

Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz can add $50,000 to their already sizable purses from their UFC 202 main event fight Saturday night. The highly anticipated rematch won Fight of the Night honors just as their first fight did. McGregor edged Diaz in a hotly contested majority decision that saw both fighters reeling at times and is considered by many to be an instant classic.

In even less shocking news, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson earned a performance bonus for this 13-second massacre of Glover Teixeira. The first clean punch Johnson landed was enough to put the durable Teixeira out cold and puts “Rumble” on a collision course for a rematch with Daniel Cormier down the line.

The second performance bonus went to Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone for his TKO victory over Rick story. All four fighters will receive a $50,000 bonus.

Hiscoe’s Analysis: It’s hard to argue with any of these bonuses. While I wasn’t as high on the McGregor-Diaz fight as others were, it was a very good fight that was full of drama from start to finish. I felt that both fighters slowing down as much as they did in the later rounds brought the excitement down a little bit.

I’m going to have nightmares about “Rumble” Johnson’s knockout of Teixeira for weeks I’m sure so he’s more than deserving of that bonus. The degree of violence that he brought to Glover as quickly as he did should have Daniel Cormier begging for a short suspension for Jon Jones.

Cowboy impressed yet again at 170. The only disappointment with these bonuses is that there weren’t more to give out, with Lorenz Larkin and Cody Garbrandt also earning very impressive stoppage victories. This glut of great performances is a testament to how good a show UFC 202 was top to bottom.

Sunday News Notes…

-Dana White stated to media that Conor McGregor’s next fight will be at 145 lbs, while Nate Diaz said that he’s “Not doing sh–” until a third McGregor fight materializes.

-The contracts of Donald Cerrone and Lorenz Larkin both expired after UFC 202.

-Conor McGregor told his team in the cage that he broke his foot and was visibly limping after the fight. He also left the building on crutches.

-McGregor and Diaz earned $3 million and $2 million respectively in base pay for last night’s fight. The next highest paid fighter was Anthony Johnson who earned $270,000 for his win.

– Dana White told media that he wants Donald Cerrone to continue fighting at 170 despite Cerrone’s challenge to Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez.

– UFC 202 sold 15,539 tickets to the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for a total gate of $7.7 million, down from the $8.1 million gate for UFC 196 at the smaller MGM Grand.