UFC 308 ended up living up to, or even exceeding, the generous amount of hype it received, and Dana White was a happy camper. The UFC president praised the athletes who competed at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, announcing additional post-fight bonuses following Saturday’s event.
Ilia Topuria was one of three Performance of the Night recipients after defending his featherweight title by becoming the first firster to knock out Max Holloway.
Khamzat Chimaev earned one for his first-round submission of Robert Whittaker in the co-main event. Chimaev forced a tap out of the former 185-pound champion, who sustained a jaw injury during the choke hold.
There are usually only two performance bonuses handed out per card plus one Fight of the Night, but White felt compelled to also award the other highlight finish from the main card.
Undefeated middleweight, Sharabutdin Magomedov, also received a bonus for his double spinning backfist knockout of Armen Petrosyan in the opening fight on the main card.
“It’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen,” White said at the post-fight press conference.
Mateusz Rebecki and Myktybek Orolbai were each awarded Fight of the Night for their back-and-forth bloody catchweight bout. Rebecki won a split decision over Orolbai in preliminary action.
All official bonus winners will get an additional $50,000 on top of their fight purse. White also announced he’d be rewarding Ibo Aslan who only needed 51 seconds to finish Raffael Cerqueira, though he acknowledged Aslan would not get the full $50,000.
