UFC Mexico City bonuses: Carla Esparza, Alexa Grasso win “Fight of the Night”

The UFC has announced the post-fight bonus award winners for the Mexico City card, and a pair of women’s strawweights won “Fight of the Night.”

The UFC announced after the event that Carla Esparza and Alexa Grasso won $50,000 each for “Fight of the Night” for their back-and-forth co-main event fight, which Esparza ended up winning by majority decision. Here’s what the UFC said.

The #UFCMexico FOTN || B2YB @ToyoTires

💰 @CarlaEsparza1 🆚 @AlexaGrasso 💰 pic.twitter.com/t27TDAwb6e

— UFC (@ufc) September 22, 2019

Winning $50,000 each for “Performance of the Night” were Steven Peterson for his ridiculous spinning back fist knockout over Martin Bravo to kick off the main card, and Paul Craig for his first-round submission win over Vinicius Moreira on the prelims. The UFC announced those bonuses as well.

#UFCMexico POTN

💰 @PCraigMMA | @8Ocho08 💰 pic.twitter.com/rHFI9vgU5r

— UFC (@ufc) September 22, 2019

It’s hard to disagree with the UFC’s choices for the bonuses given the standout performances of all four fighters who received the bonuses. Having said that, there were several other fighters who probably believe they were snubbed for the awards.

Flyweights Askar Askarov and Brandon Moreno put on an incredible showing in a main card battle that ended in a split draw. Many fans believe they should have won FOTN.

For POTN, Kyle Nelson defeated Marco Polo Reyes via first-round TKO and Angela Hill defeated Ariane Carnelossi via third-round TKO. Both of those fighters believed they should have earned a bonus for their performance, but ultimately they came up short.

Because the main event between Jeremy Stephens and Yair Rodriguez ended in a No Contest, there was plenty of bonus money to be had for the other fighters on the card. Most figured Stephens or Rodriguez would walk away with at least one or two bonuses, but because the fight ended the way it did, other fighters had a better chance to win the bonus money instead.

Did you agree with the UFC’s choices for the post-fight bonuses at UFC Mexico City?