UFC Vegas 15 Bonus Report: Anthony Smith pockets 50k for submission win over Devin Clark

UFC light heavyweight Anthony Smith was among four fighters to win $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonuses following UFC Vegas 15.

The UFC announced the winners of the coveted $50,000 post-fight bonus awards following the event. Anthony Smith earned one of the bonuses for submitting Devin Clark in the main event. The next bonus went to Miguel Baeza for his second-round arm-triangle choke submission over Takashi Sato. Also, Su Mudaerji won a bonus for a nasty first-round KO over Malcolm Gordon, and Nate Maness took home a bonus award after coming back and submitting Luke Sanders in the curtain jerker.

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Smith submitted Devin Clark in the main event of the evening to snap a two-fight losing skid to Glover Teixeira and Aleksandar Rakic and show that he still has more gas left in the tank. Smith was left for dead by many fans and media on the heels of those two straight, lopsided losses, but he had one of his better performances of his UFC career as he was able to wrap his legs around Clark’s neck and choke him out with a triangle choke in the first round. He won $50,000 for his handiwork.

Aside from Smith, Baeza continued to tear apart the welterweights he’s been paired up against in the Octagon, as he improved to 3-0 in the UFC with three stoppage wines after tapping out Sato in the second round. On the prelims, Mudaerji absolutely deserved one as he needed less than a minute to finish Gordon in one of the most powerful displays of striking we’ve seen from a flyweight in a long time. And Maness tapped out Sanders after being down early to pick up his second win in the Octagon.

As for fighters who were snubbed from bonuses, Jonathan Pearce, Anderson dos Santos, and Gina Mazany all had stoppage wins but didn’t get a bonus. As well, heavyweights Parker Porter and Josh Parisian had a slugfest on the main card that could have won “Fight of the Night,” but four performance bonuses were given to Smith, Baeza, Mudaerji, and Maness instead.

Do you think the UFC got the bonuses right following UFC Vegas 15?