UFC 311 bonuses: Merab Dvalishvili, Umar Nurmagomedov awarded for early Fight of the Year front-runner
Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov might have already given fans the best fight of the year and they’ve been awarded accordingly.
At the UFC 311 post-fight press conference, UFC CEO Dana White announced the bonuses for the event, with Dvalishvili and Nurmagomedov earning Fight of the Night for an epic five-round duel, and Jiri Prochazka and Jailton Almeida earning Performance of the Night bonuses.
All four fighters receive an extra $50,000 for their efforts.
The Fight of the Night award as no surprise as Dvalishvili went the distance in his first defense of the bantamweight title and outlasted Nurmagomedov in a thriller. It was the 12th straight win for Dvalishvili and he takes home his first Fight of the Night since a loss to Ricky Simon back in April 2018.
Prochazka and Almeida are no strangers to finishes, with a combined 51 wins by knockout or submission between them.
In a key light heavyweight bout, Prochazka delivered in spades with a third-round knockout of Jamahal Hill after a spirited back-and-forth battle that looked like it could have gone either way until Prochazka put together a final flurry of offense.
Almeida found his seventh finish in eight UFC appearances, needing just under a round to take Serghei Spivac’s back and finish with ground-and-pound.