For the first time in UFC history, 10 fighters collected a combined $550,000 in bonuses following Saturday’s UFC 332 event at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
This comes as a result of the card setting the new modern UFC record for most first-round KO/TKOs in a UFC event. UFC 329 and UFC Belgrade this year each saw seven, while tonight’s card saw nine. UFC 332 had 11 total finishes out of its 13 fights.
While not naming a Fight of the Night, the UFC awarded $400,000 each to four Performance of the Night bonus winners.
The performance bonuses went to Roman Kopylov, Imanol Rodriguez, Damian Pinas, and Johnny Walker.
Kopylov took some damage from Ateba Gautier, namely a left hand that rocked him. He, however, turned the tide with a counter left, swarming Gautier with punches until dropping him for a jaw-dropping first-round upset TKO.
Rodriguez competed in the featured prelim against Aldin Coria. Rodriguez landed a mix of combinations upstairs and body shots, using his hand speed to overwhelm and drop Coria for his own quick TKO.
Pinas continued his rise up the ranks with a quick win over Andrey Pulyaev, landing a couple of leg kicks before blocking a kick from Pulayev and landing a trio of right hands to put him out cold.
Walker, meanwhile, won his heavyweight debut during the early portion of the prelims, taking out Mick Parkin. Walker landed an elbow, followed by a pair of knees, to drop Parkin out cold for his own first-round finish.
All four participants received an extra $100,000 for their accomplishments.
All other fighters who earned a finish took home an extra $25,000. These included Payton Talbott, Marcus McGhee, Anthony Wint, Jacobe Smith, Alexander Hernandez, and Eric Nolan.
The lone finisher to not take home a bonus was Esteban Ribovics, as he was ineligible for a bonus due to missing weight.
