TUF 24 Finale bonuses: What bout upset Benavidez-Cejudo to win 'Fight of the Night'?

LAS VEGAS – Sara McMann, Anthony Smith, Jared Cannonier and Ion Cutelaba each earned $50,000 fight-night bonuses on Saturday at The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale.

McMann and Smith won “Performance of the Night” awards, and Cannonier and Cutelaba took home “Fight of the Night” honors.

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

Smith (26-12 MMA, 2-2 UFC) didn’t have a great first round against Elvis Mutapcic (15-5-1 MMA, 0-2-1 UFC) in their featured middleweight prelim on UFC Fight Pass. But he made up for it in the second in a big way. With Mutapcic already cut, “Lionheart” Smith leveled him with a vicious right elbow, sending Mutapcic quickly to the canvas. From there, it took just a few short punches for Smith to get the TKO stoppage.

In a battle of former women’s bantamweight title challengers, McMann (10-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC) had some trouble with Alexis Davis (17-7 MMA, 4-2 UFC) in the first round when Davis rattled off several big elbows from her back with McMann on top. But in the second round, McMann’s wrestling came into play, and she was able to avoid those strikes and instead lock up an arm-triangle choke that forced Davis to tap a little past the midway point of the frame.

Cannonier (9-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) and Cutelaba (12-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) had 15 minutes of back-and-forth in their light heavyweight bout, but ultimately it was Cannonier who overcame a solid first round from Cutelaba to take the second and third frames.

The TUF 24 Finale took place at The Pearl at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. The card aired on FS1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

For more on The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale, check out the UFC Events section of the site.