UFC 114 Bonuses of $65K for Russow, Jensen Bank, Brilz and Nogueira
A bout with the world-ranked Antonio Rogerio Nogueira did not result in a career-changing victory for Jason Brilz rather it turned into quite the financial windfall for the unheralded 34-year-old. The reason he decided to accept the bout was quite understood.
After Brilz and Nogueira main card matchup at UFC 114 “Rampage vs. Evans” ended with a controversial split decision in front of 15,381 on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and they were awarded matching $65,000 “Fight of the Night” bonuses. 29-28 was scored, from all the three judges and two of them for the favored Nogueira.
Brilz, a heavy underdog outmaneuvered the Brazilian for much of the fight, only to come up short on the scorecards. Nogueira trapped him briefly in a backside crucifix in the final round and swept the Omaha, Neb.-based light heavyweight twice. The win positioned him for an eventual run at the UFC light heavyweight crown. It also was his seventh victory in a row.
Mike Russow waylaid the previously unbeaten Todd Duffee with a crackling right hand in the third round and thereby he landed a $65,000 “Knockout of the Night” bonus. Duffee bombarded Russow for two rounds with a heavy diet of right uppercuts but wound up flat on his back 2:35 into round three. With a record-setting seven-second knockout in August, Duffee debuted in the UFC. In a matter of seconds, his night’s hard work was erased.
After Ryan Jensen coaxed a tapout from Jesse Forbes with a first-round guillotine choke, he pocketed a $65,000 “Submission of the Night” bonus. As Jensen won for the second time in six Octagon appearances, the submission came 66 seconds into round one making it rather interesting for the sportsbooks.