UFC 226 Bonuses: Daniel Cormier & Anthony Pettis Bank Big For Insane Finishes
UFC 226 emanated tonight (Saturday, July 7, 2018) from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The card capped International Fight Week, the main attraction of which featured a heavyweight superfight between 265-pound king Stipe Miocic and light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. DC would become just the second simultaneous two-division champion with a shocking first-round knockout of Miocic. Not only does he seem to have a money fight upcoming against Brock Lesnar, but he walks away $50,000 richer with one of the night’s four Performance of the Night bonuses.
Anthony Pettis picked up a much-needed win, submitting Michael Chiesa with a second-round triangle choke. Chiesa seemed drained after the first few minutes, perhaps hampered by the bad weight cut that saw him miss the mark. Pettis found his footing after a few scrambles in round one. At the opening of the second, Pettis hurt Chiesa, went for a guillotine, and eventually transitioned to the fight-ending choke. He banked an extra $50,000 for his efforts as well.
Khalil Rountree picked up the most significant and emphatic win of his career on the main card as well. Taking on decorated kickboxer-turned-MMA fighter Gokhan Saki, Rountree was undeterred. He dropped Saki with a counter left hand early, pounding with hammerfists to finish the job. Rountree will wake up tomorrow $50,000 richer for his Performance of the Night.
Lastly, the featured prelim saw middleweight hitters Paulo Costa and Uriah Hall go back and forth for about eight minutes. Costa consistently backed Hall up and smashed home massive hooks to the head and body. Hall jabbed, leg kicked, and hit several spinning back kicks to the body. Early in round two, Hall rocked Costa with a hook inside. The Brazilian quickly recovered, though, and resumed his assault with renewed vigor. Moments later, he collapsed Hall with a series of close-quarter power punches, earning the most significant win of his career and an extra $50,000 to boot.
Keep it locked to LowKickMMA for all your UFC 226 post-fight news, notes, and analysis.
