Following Saturday’s UFC 302 occasion on the Prudential Heart in Newark, New Jersey, UFC officers introduced the recipients of the performance-based bonuses.
Light-weight champion Islam Makhachev double dipped, incomes bonuses for ‘Combat of the Evening,’ and a ‘Efficiency of the Evening’ bonus for his fifth-round submission win over Dustin Poirier.
Combat Of The Evening: Islam Makhackev vs Dustin Poirier
As we get a bit of distance from this struggle, the magnitude of it can begin to sink in a bit of extra. Are we within the midst of the best light-weight championship run of all time? Did we simply watch the nice Dustin Poirier struggle for the final time?
It’s an excessive amount of to ponder on this stunning night in Newark, so we’ll simply must bask within the glow of an impressive title struggle that exemplified—time and again—why these two warriors will personal an enormous share of the UFC’s most memorable moments of this era.
Efficiency Of The Evening: Islam Makhachev
That’s three straight title defenses and 14 straight wins general for the nice Islam Makhachev, who’s now poised to change into probably the most dominant light-weight champion within the historical past of the game. Khabib Nurmagomedov beamed proudly from the champ’s nook as he watched his star pupil survive a recreation Dustin Poirier, and as soon as once more show that Makhachev is a puzzle that may by no means fairly be solved. The champ has been contemplating a run within the welterweight ranks, and watching him tonight, it’s laborious to think about who might cease him.
Efficiency Of The Evening: Kevin Holland
He known as himself the UFC’s “greatest gatekeeper” in his post-win speech, however Kevin Holland is excess of that. A pure menace throughout each the welterweight and (like tonight) middleweight divisions, tonight he confirmed off his largely unsung submission abilities, locking Michal Oleksiejczuk right into a positively grotesque first spherical armbar to the sheer delight of the Prudential Heart crowd.
Attendance: 117,834 (Bought Out)
Gate: $7,255,040 (Highest grossing occasion in Prudential Heart historical past)
