Thiago “Marreta” Santos, Stefan Struve, Michal Oleksiejczuk and Dwight Grant each earned $50,000 bonuses for their performances at Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ 3 event.
The promotion passed on awarding a “Fight of the Night,” instead issuing four “Performance of the Night” honors to the selected fighters.
UFC officials announced the winners following the event, which MMAjunkie attended.
Santos (21-6 MMA, 13-5 UFC) earned his check with a vicious third-round TKO of Jan Blachowicz (23-7 MMA, 6-4 UFC) in the night’s main event. “Marreta” was patient over the opening two rounds, seemingly pacing himself for the potential five-round affair, but when his opponent pushed forward to start the third, Santos unleashed a vicious hook that floored his foe. Follow-up strikes on the canvas ended the night.
Struve (29-11 MMA, 13-9 UFC) sure didn’t seem like he was going to be bonus eligible early against Marcos Rogerio de Lima (16-6-1 MMA, 5-4 UFC) after being dropped with the first punch of the fight. But Struve battled through the adversity and survived until the second round, when he completely turned the tables by taking the fight to the floor and tapping out de Lima with an arm-triangle choke.
Oleksiejczuk (14-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) picked up his first official UFC win in spectacular fashion, using a devastating body shot to bring a quick end to his fight with Gian Villante (17-11 MMA, 7-8 UFC) and securing a little extra income in the process.
Meanwhile, Grant (9-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) picked up his first UFC win in devastating fashion, perfectly timing a huge strike at the end of the first round with his bout with Pedersoli Jr. (11-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC). The finish provided a spectacular visual and some extra cash for Grant.
For complete coverage of UFC on ESPN+ 3, check out the UFC Events section of the site.
