It shouldn’t take a rocket scientist — or an MMA expert, for that matter — to figure out Glover Teixeira earned some extra money on Wednesday night.
Teixeira (31-7 MMA, 14-5 UFC) put in a brutally efficient performance in his light heavyweight main event victory over fellow former title challenger Anthony Smith in the main event of UFC on ESPN+ 29. Teixeira served notice he’s still among the top names at 205 pounds by dominating the tough Smith before finishing the job at the 1:04 mark of Round 5 via TKO.
For that, Teixeira earned a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus, the seventh postfight bonus of his UFC career.
Drew Dober also had a fine night in Jacksonville on Wednesday. He made a statement on where he stands in the UFC lightweight division with a violent second-round TKO of Alexander Hernandez. With his third straight win, Dober (23-9 MMA, 9-5 UFC) also took home a “Performance of the Night” paycheck, his second career bonus.
“Fight of the Night” went to a wild featherweight matchup between Brian Kelleher and Hunter Azure. Kelleher (21-10 MMA, 5-3 UFC) took the win with a KO at 3:40 of round two, and both took home an extra 50 grand. Kelleher won his third career postfight bonus, while Azure (8-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) took his first.
UFC on ESPN+ 29 tool place Wednesday at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. The card streamed on ESPN+.
