Erin Blanchfield picked up the biggest win of her career in the UFC Vegas 69 and she’ll also go home with her first post-fight bonus afterwards.
Following a stunning second-round rear-naked choke submission to finish Jessica Andrade in the main event, Blanchfield was awarded the $50,000 bonus for Performance of the Night.
It was a statement performance from the 23-year-old prospect turned contender after she traded bombs with Andrade early before wrapping up the finish to move to 5-0 in the UFC.
Meanwhile, Mayra Bueno Silva will also enjoy an extra $50,000 after she tapped out Lina Lansberg with a nasty kneebar in their bantamweight fight on the prelims. The Performance of the Night bonus came as Silva moved to 3-0 in the division while making a move up the rankings at 135 pounds.
The Fight of the Night honors went to lightweights Nazim Sadykhov and Evan Elder after they engaged in a back-and-forth war as the featured prelim. It was a barnburner from start to finish but unfortunately the ending came after Elder suffered a gruesome cut on his eyebrow at the start of the third round, which ultimately ended the fight.
While it’s certainly not the result that Elder wanted, especially after he was up on the judges’ scorecards heading into the final round, he’ll at least get an extra $50,000 for his effort on Saturday. The same goes for Sadykhov, who looked impressive in his octagon debut after earning his contract by way of Dana White’s Contender Series.