UFC 285 was an early contender for the most stacked UFC card of the year, and it delivered an entertaining night of action all throughout the event. The UFC brass had plenty of options to choose from for 50K bonuses, but only a few fighters walked away from the event with some extra cash.
Performances Of The Night
Bo Nickal was given a fairly significant honor by opening the UFC 285 main card in his promotional debut, but the 27-year-old proved that the hype around his considerable skills is real.
The win wasn’t without a bit of controversy, but Nickal earned yet another first-round finish and collected a 50K bonus to mark his UFC debut.
Alexa Grasso entered UFC 285 as a significant underdog and was expected to be yet another victim for Valentina Shevchenko, but she walked away from the event as the women’s flyweight champion.
The 29-year-old had moments of success while largely struggling to assert herself against Shevchenko for the majority of the fight, but late in the fourth round Grasso secured a rear naked choke that finished the fight and earned her an extra $50K to mark the biggest win of her career.
There were countless questions surrounding Jon Jones’ return at UFC 285, but “Bones” shattered all expectations with his performance.
The 35-year-old defied all concerns about ring rust and his move up to heavyweight by submitting Ciryl Gane in just over two minutes to collect his second UFC title and a $50K bonus.
Fight Of The Night
A few fights throughout UFC 285 made a case to be named Fight of The Night, but the honors went to the welterweight bout between Shavkat Rakhmonov and Geoff Neal.
Rakhmonov entered the bout as a significant favorite and ended up being seriously challenged by Neal, but in the end “Nomad” maintained his perfect finishing streak and both fighters received bonuses for Fight of the Night.
What do you think of the bonus winners from UFC 285?