UFC 288 Bonus Report: Matt Frevola one of four fighters to take home $50k

The Octagon returned to Newark, New Jersey, for tonight’s UFC 288 event, a -bout fight card headlined by Aljamain Sterling vs. Henry Cejudo.

The highly anticipated bantamweight title fight went the full twenty-five minutes. Aljamain Sterling appears to get the better of Henry Cejudo in the opening round, but ‘Triple C’ came back and made things competitive in round two. However, ‘Funkmaster’ appeared to pull away in rounds three and four, leaving many fans believing Cejudo needed a finish in the fifth and final round. Although the former champ got the better of Sterling in the final five minutes, it was not enough to sway the judges in his favor.

The co-main event of UFC 288 featured a key welterweight bout between Gilbert Burns and Belal Muhammad. The fight proved to be a coming out party for Belal Muhammad. ‘Remember The Name’ was able to get the better of Gilbert Burns for all five rounds of the UFC 288 co-main event. Belal battered the ribs and right arm of ‘Durinho’ with kicks and seemingly cruised to a decision win.

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.

Fight of the night: Featherweight fighters Movsar Evloev and Diego Lopes earned FOTN honors for their thrilling war on tonight’s UFC 288 main card lineup. Evloev won the contest by unanimous decision.

Performance of the night: Matt Frevola earned an extra $50k for his first-round knockout victory over Drew Dober in tonight’s UFC 288 featured prelim (see that here). The win marked ‘Streamrolla’s’ third straight and he proceeded to callout Paddy Pimblett.

Performance of the night: Yan Xiaonan pocketed an extra $50k for her first-round knockout victory over Jessica Andrade on tonight’s main card (see that here). With the win, Xiaonan positioned herself nicely for a title fight with current strawweight champion Weili Zhang.

Are you surprised by any of the performance bonuses handed out by Dana White and company following the conclusion of tonight’s UFC 288 event in New Jersey? Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!