Officials announced the UFC Vegas 24 bonuses on Saturday night with main eventers Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum taking Fight of the Night honors. Outside of Fight of the Night, the results didn’t leave much guessing as to who would win the bonuses.
Out of 10 bouts, there were only two finishes. The two winning fighters with finishes took home the Performance of the Night honors.
UFC Vegas 24 Fight of the Night: Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum
Robert Whittaker put himself into position to challenge UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya with little to no way to say he shouldn’t be next for the titleholder.
Whittaker won a five-round unanimous decision, but it wasn’t until after a hard fought battle with Gastelum. Whittaker had the upper hand throughout, but whenever it seemed he’d run away with the fight, Gastelum would battle back.
But in the end, Whittaker scored his third consecutive victory since losing the title to Adesanya, earning his way back to the belt. Gastelum, however, lost the fourth out of his last five bouts, putting him in a precarious position in the division.
UFC Vegas 24 Performance of the Night: Gerald Meerschaert
Gerald Meerschaert rebounded from back-to-back losses to Ian Heinisch and Khamzat Chimaev with a quick submission victory over Bartosz Fabiński. He finished the fight with a guillotine choke at the 2:00 minute mark of the first round.
UFC Vegas 24 Performance of the Night: Tony Gravely
Making his third start in the UFC, Tony Gravely opened the UFC Vegas 24 fight card with a second-round TKO stoppage of Anthony Birchack, who lost his second consecutive fight since returning to the Octagon last year.
UFC Vegas 24 bonuses: Whittaker vs. Gastelum lands Fight of the Night