The middleweight headliner on Saturday at UFC APEX was awarded “Fight of the Night” honors after ex-champ Whittaker pitched a shutout on scorecards, earning unanimous 50-45 tallies over one-time interim title challenger Kelvin Gastelum. Both competitors took home extra $50,000 bonus checks.
Whittaker afterward called for a rematch with Israel Adesanya, the man who beat him almost three years ago to claim the middleweight title.
There wasn’t much competition for other bonuses, as just two of the 10 fights ended without a finish and one was a rare technical decision after Juan Espino’s foul ended a heavyweight bout with Alexander Romanov. But two earned $50,000 checks for “Performance of the Night.”
First, Gerald Meerschaert rebounded from a one-punch knockout loss to Khamzat Chimaev with a submission of Bartosz Fabinski, his sixth such win in the octagon and the 24th in his pro career.
And second, Tony Gravely captured a bonus for a second-round stoppage of Anthony Birchak in the card opener on ESPN+.
{feed:enclosure_href }
More...
