UFC 222 bonuses: Brian Ortega, Alexander Hernandez easy choices for $50,000

LAS VEGAS – Brian Ortega, Alexander Hernandez, Sean O'Malley and Andre Soukhamthath each earned $50,000 fight-night bonuses at Saturday’s UFC 222 event.

Ortega and Hernandez earned “Performance of the Night” awards, and O’Malley and Soukhamthath took home “Fight of the Night” honors.

UFC officials announced the winners after the event, which MMAjunkie attended.

Ortega (14-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) took out former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar (22-6-1 MMA, 16-6-1 UFC) with a first-round knockout in their featherweight fight. Ortega became the first fighter to stop Edgar and in the process likely earned a 145-pound title shot against champion Max Holloway.

Hernandez (9-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) took his lightweight fight with Beneil Dariush (14-4-1 MMA, 8-4-1 UFC) on less than three weeks’ notice for his UFC debut. Dariush was a -450 favorite in the fight. But it took Hernandez just 42 seconds to take Dariush out with a vicious knockout.

O’Malley (10-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) was mostly dominant against Soukhamthath (12-6 MMA, 1-3 UFC) until the third round, when he appeared to suffer a bad foot injury. That gave Soukhamthath an opening in their bantamweight fight, but he couldn’t fully take advantage and O’Malley took home a unanimous decision win.

UFC 222 took place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and the main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

For more on UFC 222, check out the UFC Events section of the site.