UFC on ESPN 9 bonuses: Gilbert Burns, Mackenzie Dern pick up extra $50,000

Gilbert Burns, Mackenzie Dern, Brandon Royval and Tim Elliott each earned $50,000 bonuses for their performances at Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 9 event.

Royval and Elliott earned the “Fight of the Night,” while Burns and Dern each won “Performance of the Night” honors. UFC president Dana White announced the winners following the event.

Burns (19-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) dominated former welterweight champion Tyron Woodley (19-5-1 MMA, 9-4-1 UFC) in the main event. He cut Woodley open in the first 30 seconds and rolled the rest of the way with a pair of 50-44 scores and a 50-45. Afterward, he called for a 170-pound title shot – against his teammate and friend, champ Kamaru Usman. Usman dominated Woodley in March 2019 to win the title, and Woodley had been on the sidelines till Saturday night.

Dern (8-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) opened the main card with a submission win over Hannah Cifers (10-5 MMA, 2-3 UFC). Cifers came out strong, but when the fight spilled to the canvas, it was right into Dern’s world and she picked up the first leg submission win in UFC women’s history.

Royval (11-4 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and Elliott (15-11-1 MMA, 4-9 UFC) fought on the prelims and Elliott appeared to be working his way to success with four takedowns. But the last one proved problematic when Royval locked up an arm triangle choke for the win in his promotional debut. Afterward, Royval said he wanted a bonus so he could potentially quit his day job. He was expecting to work 40 hours next week. Now he’s got options.