UFC 162 Fighter Bonuses: Two Fight of the Night Awards Handed Out

The Ultimate Fighting Championship handed out $50,000 bonuses and two Fight of the Night awards following UFC 162: Silva vs. Weidman on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Chris Weidman, Frankie Edgar, Charles Oliveira, Cub Swanson and Dennis Siver earned the performance-based bonuses.

The Knockout of the Night bonus went to the new UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman for his second round knockout of the previously untouchable Anderson Silva.  Silva dropped his hands and urged Weidman to come forward.  Weidman obliged him with a left hand.  Silva acted like he was hurt and Weidman unleashed a combination as Silva tried to use head movement to avoid the punches.  A left hook got through and Silva crashed to the canvas.  Weidman rendered the former champion unconscious with a follow up right hand, leaving Silva wrestling with referee Herb Dean.

Fight of the Night honors went to the co-main event fighters, former lightweight titleholder Frankie Edgar and Charles Oliveira and main card featherweights Cub Swanson and Dennis Siver.

Edgar pressed the pace, landing right hands and securing takedowns.  But Oliveira kept up and fired back throughout the course of the three-round fight. In typical fashion, Edgar seemed to get stronger as the fight wore on.  In the end, Edgar earned a hard-fought, unanimous decision victory.

Siver took it to Swanson early in the fight that kicked off the UFC 162 main card on pay-per-view.  He took Swanson down and kept him there in the first round.  As the fight entered the latter two rounds, however, Swanson’s speed became an obvious advantage.  He landed right hands in the third round that hurt Siver.  A well-placed combination knocked Siver down and Swanson finished with a series of punches on the ground.

UFC 162 didn’t feature a submission finish, thus there was no Submission of the Night bonus awarded.