UFC on ESPN+ 31, also known as UFC Vegas 5, UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Shahbazyan, and UFC Fight Night 173, was held on August 1 at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In addition to being paid a fixed amount to show and another, usually equal amount to win, each UFC event also awards four $50,000 Performance Bonuses. Usually, there is a Fight of the Night in which both fighters are given a performance bonus, and a performance bonus to the winner in two fights. At this event, there was no Fight of the Night, and instead, only Performance Bonuses were awarded, and perhaps in a nod the size of the 15-fight card, six bonuses were awarded. “Performance Bonus” means the fight made you go “HOLY F@$%ING $#!@.”
One of the primary differences between the UFC model and the boxing model is the depth of the card. Sometimes in MMA the greatest fight isn’t the main event, or close to it. At UFC on ESPN+ 32, three of four bonuses went to the undercard, and main and co-main got none. The winners are listed in bold below.
$50,000 Performance Bonus
Gavin Tucker defeated Justin Jaynes by Submission (RNC, Round 3, 1:43)
https://twitter.com/espnmma/status/1292238951546269702https://twitter.com/ufc/status/1292241251434102784
$50,000 Performance Bonus
Andrew Sanchez defeated Wellington Turman by KO (Punches, Round 1, 4:14)
https://twitter.com/ufc/status/1292244977788096513
$50,000 Performance Bonus
Kevin Holland defeated Joaquin Buckley by KO (Punch, Round 3, 0:32)
https://twitter.com/FDSportsbook/status/1292259356336107526
$50,000 Performance Bonus
Darren Stewart defeated Maki Pitolo by Submission (Guillotine Choke, Round 1)
https://twitter.com/ufc/status/1292284683066236930
In addition, to the bonuses and purses, fighters earn:
•Reebok pay, based on tenure, for wearing the distinctive apparel during fight week and in the Octagon;
•Sometimes fighters get discretionary locker room bonuses of varying amounts; despite their name, locker room bonuses actually come in the mail now;
•In some cases there is an LOA [Letter of Agreement] on the contract for additional income; and,
•The most elite fighters get points on the pay per view for PPV events.
The next league event is UFC 252: Miocic vs. Cormier 3 on August 15 at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
