UFC 251 was an eventful evening, and it ended, per usual, with four fighters taking home bonus money.
Rose Namajunas (9-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) and Jessica Andrade (20-8 MMA, 11-6 UFC) met up on the evening’s main card in a rematch which was 14 months in the making, and it turned out to be well worth the wait.
The former strawweight champions put on a tremendous show, with Namajunas looking sharp over the first 10 minutes, then fending off Andrade’s ferocious comeback over the final round to earn a split decision win.
That was enough for the match to earn “Fight of the Night” honors, giving both competitors an extra $50,000. This marked Andrade’s seventh postfight bonus of her UFC tenure and Namajunas’ fifth.
“Performance of the Night,” meanwhile, went to a pair of truly superlative performance. Jiri Prochazka (27-3-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) lived up to the hype in his UFC debut, as the former Rizin light heavyweight champion knocked former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Volkan Oezdemir cold early in the second round of their featured prelim bout. And the evening got off with a bang when Davey Grant (10-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC) knocked Martin Day cold in the third round of their fight. Both take home their first UFC postfight bonuses for their “POTN” efforts.
UFC 251 took place Saturday at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.
UFC 251 bonuses: Rose Namajunas-Jessica Andrade war nets 'Fight of the Night' honors
