Following Saturday’s UFC 282 event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, UFC president Dana White announced the recipients of the performance-based bonuses. Eleven fighters were awarded $50,000 checks for their octagon efforts.
UFC 282 Bonuses Winners
- Fight Of The Night: Darren Till vs Dricus du Plessis
- Performance Of The Night: Santiago Ponzinibbio
- Performance Of The Night: Ilia Topuria
- Performance Of The Night: Raul Rosas Jr.
- Performance Of The Night: Jairzinho Rozenstruik
- Performance Of The Night: Edmen Shahbazyan
- Performance Of The Night: Chris Curtis
- Performance Of The Night: Billy Quarantillo
- Performance Of The Night: TJ Brown
- Performance Of The Night: Cameron Saaiman
RECORDS/ATTENDANCE/GATE
Gate: $4,409,511.00
Attendance: 18,455 (Sold Out)
29 consecutive sellouts with full capacity.
Dricus Du Plessis of South Africa punches Darren Till of England during the UFC 282 event at T-Mobile Arena on December 10, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC)
Fight Of The Night: Darren Till vs Dricus Du Plessis
Dricus Du Plessis and Darren Till put on an entertaining, back-and-forth bout with crucial stakes in the middleweight division. In the first round, Du Plessis stormed Till and beat the Scouser up agains the cage for most of the first round. However, Till responded in the second and saw plenty of success on the feet with Du Plessis slightly fatigued until the South African secured a takedown. In the final frame, Du Plessis turned up the pressure, and when he secured a takedown in the center of the cage, he climbed to Till’s back and earned a quick rear naked choke submission.
Performance Of The Night: Santiago Ponzinibbio
Facing Alex Morono, who replaced Robbie Lawler on short-notice, at a catchweight of 180-pounds, Santiago Ponzinibbio bounced back from a slow start to get a comeback victory. In the third round, Ponzinibbio cashed in on a steady diet of leg kicks and found a less mobile Morono in front of him. That allowed the Argentine to land a cannon of a right hand that froze Morono and earned the stoppage win.
Performance Of The Night: Ilia Topuria
In his first crack at the featherweight top-10, Ilia Topuria passed his toughest test with flying colors against Bryce Mitchell. “El Madator” seemed a step ahead all night, landing cracking punches and stuffing Mitchell’s myriad takedown attempts. In the second round, Topuria hurt Mitchell on the feet before getting him to the ground and getting the submission win to push his UFC record to 5-0 and 13-0 overall.
Performance Of The Night: Raul Rosas Jr.
Eighteen-year-old phenom Raul Rosas Jr. looked comfortable under the bright lights in T-Mobile Arena, earning a debut stoppage win over Jay Perrin. Early in the first frame, Rosas Jr. secured a takedown, took Perrin’s back and sunk in a rear naked choke becoming not only the youngest fighter to compete in the UFC, but the youngest one to win.
Performance Of The Night: Jairzinho Rozenstruik
In a blink, Jairzinho Rozenstruik halted his 2-fight losing skid with a 23-second knockout win over Chris Daukaus. “Bigi Boy” blitzed the American and eventually found the final shot that sent Daukaus clattering to the canvas.
Performance Of The Night: Edmen Shahbazyan
For the first time in three years, Edmen Shahbazyan is in the winner’s circle. “The Golden Boy” turned in a proficient effort against Dalcha Lungiambula. In the second round, Shahbazyan crashed into his opponent with a knee and swarmed punches and elbows to earn the finish.
Performance Of The Night: Chris Curtis
“The Action Man” did it again. After a couple rounds of waiting for his moment, Chris Curtis caught one of Joaquin Buckley’s high kicks and planted a straight punch that sent Buckley to the mat. After a few follow-up shots, the ref stopped the fight and presented Curtis with his 30th professional victory.
Performance Of The Night: Billy Quarantillo
Welcoming Alexander Hernandez to the featherweight division, Billy Quarantillo bounced back from getting split open in the first round and poured on the pressure in the second frame. Quarantillo upped his output and eventually overwhelmed Hernandez to get the second-round stoppage.
Performance Of The Night: TJ Brown
In a gritty back-and-forth fight, TJ Brown got a third-round submission win over Erik Silva. Brown seemed to have an upper-hand on the feet early but elected to grapple. Eventually after some success from Silva, Brown secured a takedown and locked in a tight arm triangle.
Performance Of The Night: Cameron Saaiman
After having a point deducted due to an illegal knee, debutant Cameron Saaiman rallied and responded with a TKO victory over Steven Koslow. It was a nice result for a young Contender Series alumn after dealing with some adversity in a close fight.
Eleven fighters awarded bonuses after UFC 282
