The UFC London card was not very electric in terms of knockouts. Out of the 13 bouts, only four ended in finishes. But with the integration of the new bonus system, upgrading rewards to $100k, with an additional $25k for exceptional cases, fighters now attempt to put out their best efforts. Last weekend, it was Danny Silva who showcased that by knocking out his opponent. However, the UFC’s decision on who received the bonus left many fans questioning the criteria.

“I’m broke right now,” said Silva in the UFC London octagon interview. “I just need some money to maintain some camps. You know, it’ll be nice if I could get a performance bonus.”

Danny Silva fought debutant and local boy Kurtis Campbell in the opening bout of the main card. It was a featherweight fight for three rounds. But ‘El Puma’ didn’t take much time to showcase his prowess against Campbell. After a competitive first round, Silva just barged into the Brit to finish him via TKO in 31 seconds in the second round.

Surely, a clinical performance that shouldn’t have been debatable. However, the UFC didn’t feel it was worthy enough for a “Performance of the Night” (POTN) bonus. In the promotion’s eye, Iwo Baraniewski’s 28-second finish over Austen Lane may have been more deserving of the POTN reward.

But this is where the netizens believe UFC made an unfair decision. And this particularly stems from Silva and Baraniewski’s opponents. While Campbell was on his UFC debut, he boasted an unblemished record of 7-0 before that. Meanwhile, Lane is someone who has had a tumultuous track record.

After entering the leading MMA promotion, Lane has won only once. However, he has suffered defeat on five occasions, out of which four were knockouts, and one was a submission. So, citing his recent performance, Baraniewski secured a POTN for beating him. And many in the community argued that.

But the UFC may have its reasons for it. Amid that, it must have surely discouraged a promising talent like Silva, who stands on a 3-1 record in the leading MMA promotion. Now, although ‘El Puma’ missed out on the POTN bonus, he did receive a $25,000 bonus for securing a knockout.

And this has been the main goal of the UFC while introducing the new bonus rule: to ensure those who are deserving receive something for their decisive performance. That said, apart from Silva and Baraniewski, who were the other bonus recipients last weekend?

Who were the other recipients of a bonus at UFC London?

Featherweight contenders Movsar Evloev and Lerone Murphy headlined the UFC London card in a five-round contest. While it ended in a competitive decision win for Evloev, a few undercard matchups featured highlight reel moments.

To start off, in the opening bout of the UFC London card, Shanelle Dyer faced Ravena Oliveira in a women’s strawweight bout. For Dyer, it was her promotional debut, and for the Brazilian, a chance to overcome a three-fight losing streak. Ultimately, it was Dyer who rose up to the occasion by defeating Oliveira via second-round TKO.

For her performance, the English fighter received the second POTN bonus after Iwo Baraniewski. Apart from that, the last fight of the preliminary card also featured a lightweight bout between Mason Jones and Axel Sola. And it was a fight that turned out to be the standout in the entire card.

Jones and Sola traded shots for three rounds straight, dealing a total of 175 significant strikes and leaving each other bloodied. While Jones took away the unanimous decision victory, UFC rewarded both with “Fight of the Night” (FOTN) bonuses.

And lastly, like Danny Silva received the additional $25,000 reward for knocking out his opponent, another fighter received the same. The preliminary card also had a heavyweight bout between Brando Pericic and Louie Sutherland, and Pericic just took 1:48 seconds to topple the local boy via TKO.

So, that’s how the UFC London bonuses were distributed. However, compared to UFC Vegas 114, which took place on March 14, the number of finishes was lower. While the London event had four finishes (all TKO) in total, the Vegas card had six (3 KO/TKO, 3 submissions).

That said, how do you see the upcoming UFC Seattle event, headlined by Israel Adesanya and Joe Pyfer, on March 28 panning out? Let us know in the comments below!