UFC Vegas 23 bonuses: Mackenzie Dern earns bonus, takes aim at the belt
Julian Marquez, Sam Alvey, Mackenzie Dern, and Mateusz Gamrot topped the UFC Vegas 23 bonuses, each of them taking home an additional $50,000 bonus check for their efforts on Saturday in Las Vegas.
Marquez and Alvey took home the Fight of the Night bonuses, while Dern and Gamrot were awarded the Performance of the Night honors.
UFC Vegas 23 Fight of the Night: Julian Marquez def. Sam Alvey
Julian Marquez continued to prove that he is more than a Miley Cyrus callout with his victory over Sam Alvey, which earned the Fight of the Night award.
Marquez showed great hand speed early and cracked Alvey, wobbling him. But Alvey returned fire, hurting Marquez, as well.
Marquez dropped Alvey in the second round, kept after him, and eventually finished the bout with a rear-naked choke that put him to sleep. The win was his second in the early goings of 2021.
UFC Vegas 23 Performance of the Night: Mackenzie Dern
Mackenzie Dern put on perhaps the best performance of her UFC tenure on Saturday.
She took the fight to Nina Nunes (formerly Nina Ansaroff) from the opening bell. Though Dern was outstriking Nunes, she took the fight to the ground, where she methodically worked to secure Nunes’s arm before locking it out in an armbar for the finish with just seconds to go in the first round.
Dern believes she is now on championship form. Her win over Nunes certainly seemed to indicate as much, as she was rewarded with a UFC Vegas 23 Performance of the Night bonus.
UFC Vegas 23 Performance of the Night: Mateusz Gamrot
Mateusz Gamrot redeemed himself for a split-decision loss in his first UFC bout by landing a blistering knockout of Scott Holtzman at UFC Vegas 23.
Gamrot cracked Holtzman with a one-two combination, sending him to the canvas. Gamrot followed with a few short punches to his downed opponent to finish the fight and earn his Performance of the Night bonus.
UFC Vegas 23 bonuses
- Fight of the Night: Sam Alvey vs. Julian Marquez
- Performances of the Night: Mackenzie Dern
- Performances of the Night: Mateusz Gamrot
Kamaru Usman: ‘I didn’t break Jorge Masvidal the way I wanted to’