Cub Swanson’s UFC Tampa co-feature bout with Kron Gracie turned into a compelling throwdown.
The veteran Swanson taught Gracie a thing or two about high-level striking in their featherweight fight at Amalie Arena on Saturday night, all while mostly avoiding Gracie’s world-class ground game.
But Gracie, for his part, showed poise, toughness, and heart that seemed to give lie to the fact this was just his sixth pro MMA fight.
So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the duo earned “Fight of the Night” honors for UFC on ESPN+ 19, which means each competitor will pocket an extra $50,000.
For Swanson (26-11 MMA, 11-7 UFC), who snapped a four-fight losing streak, this marked his eighth career postfight bonus. Gracie (5-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) now has two postfight bonuses in as many UFC bouts.
As always, there were four overall bonus winners on the evening, as a pair of “Performance of the Night” awards rounded things out.
One was obvious, as Niko Price (14-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) defeated James Vick (13-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) at 1:44 of the opening round by way of an all-time memorable upkick knockout. And Marlon Vera (17-5-1 MMA, 9-4 UFC) finished Andre Ewell (15-6 MMA, 2-2 UFC) in the third round of their undercard fight, as Vera continues to build momentum. Price and Vera also earned $50,000 extra for their efforts.
The UFC announced a crowd of 10,597 at Amalie Arena for a paid gate of $897,805.
UFC on ESPN+ 19 bonuses: Cub Swanson-Kron Gracie slugfest earns 'Fight of the Night'
