UFC Des Moines Bonus Report: Reinier de Ridder one of four fighters to take home $50k

The Octagon returned to Iowa for tonight’s UFC Des Moines event, and four fighters wound up taking home performance bonuses.

The fight card was headlined by a key men’s bantamweight matchup between Cory Sandhagen and Deiveson Figueiredo. The highly anticipated contest resulted in an extremely impressive showing from Sandhagen. After landing some solid low kicks and jabs in the opening couple of minutes, ‘The Sandman’ promptly took the fight to the floor and landed some solid ground and pound before the horn sounded to end the opening round. Then, in round two, Cory Sandhagen once again got Deiveson Figueiredo to the floor and wound up finishing him with a knee bar submission hold. The bout was ruled a TKO stoppage due to injury, but there was no doubt that ‘Figgy’ tapped from the leg lock.

UFC Des Moines was co-headlined by an intriguing middleweight showdown between Reinier de Ridder and Bo Nickal. The contest proved to be a coming out party for ‘RDR’. The former two-division ONE FC champion showed no fear of getting in the clinch and grappling game with Bo Nickal and was able to get the better of the American on the ground in the opening round. Then, in round two, Reinier de Ridder decided to showcase his striking game and ended up putting Nickal down for good after landing a plethora of uppercuts followed by a knee to the liver.

Following the conclusion of tonight’s event, UFC officials announced at the post-fight press conference that four fighters would be taking home performance bonuses.

Performance of the night: Cory Sandhagen earned an extra $50k for his second-round finish of Deiveson Figueiredo in tonight’s UFC Des Moines main event (see that here).

Performance of the night: Reinier de Ridder pocketed an extra $50k for his second-round TKO victory over Bo Nickal in tonight’s co-headliner (see that here). ‘RDR’ handed the American wrestler the first loss of his career tonight in Iowa.

Performance of the night: Azamat Bekoev earned an extra $50k for his first-round TKO victory over Ryan Loder on tonight’s prelims (see that here).

Performance of the night: Quang Le pocketed an extra $50k for his second-round submission victory over Gaston Bolanos (see that here).

Are you surprised by any of the performance bonuses handed out by Dana White and company following the conclusion of tonight’s UFC Des Moines event? Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!