The UFC handed out four bonuses after Saturday's card in Los Angeles, plus an additional promotional bonus that Dana White said he would match for the biggest upset winner in UFC history.
After UFC 331, four fighters picked up an extra $100,000 for their performances at Crypto.com Arena. Additionally, another got $100K in promotional bonus money and five fighters got $25,000 extra checks for finishes that weren’t bonus-winners.
Check out the list of winners below.
Fight of the Night: Joshua Van, Alexandre Pantoja ($100,000 each)
Joshua Van (18-2 MMA, 11-1 UFC) was dominant in a lot of ways against former dominant flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja (30-7 MMA, 14-5 UFC) in their rematch, including a 50-45 score in his unanimous decision. The two slugged it out for 25 minutes and both left bloody, but Van, the second
youngest champ in UFC history, now has two title defenses since he took the belt from Pantoja.
Performance of the Night: Arman Tsarukyan ($100,000)
Arman Tsarukyan (24-3 MMA, 11-2 UFC) had been tagged by Mauricio Ruffy (14-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) and his left eye was swelling badly. His solution? Pin Ruffy against the cage, then unleash a sickening elbow that had him out cold with four seconds left in the opening round. The win almost certainly made Tsarukyan next in line for a lightweight title shot.
Performance of the Night: Casey O'Neill ($100,000)
Casey O'Neill (12-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) was in some pretty significant trouble against Eduarda Moura (12-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC) trying to fend off a submission attempt. A few seconds later, with Moura on top, O’Neill got her feet onto her stomach and pushed her skyward like she was about to give her a childlike “airplane ride” on her feet. And at the same moment, she snatched her arm and in a blink had Moura tapping to one of the most insane armbars in history.
“Chaos” bonus: Sean Sharaf ($50,000+$50,000 match+$25,000 finish bonus)
Sean Sharaf (5-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) was a ridiculously massive underdog against Gable Steveson (4-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC), who was a 24-1 betting favorite. But the former standout collegiate wrestler got absolutely embarrassed when Sharaf put his lights out in just 12 seconds, leaving him needing referee Frank Trigg to save him from further punishment. Even more absolutely pathetic, Steveson didn’t even have the class to stay in the cage to hear Sharaf’s name announced as the winner, earning at least some mild disgust from the broadcast team. For some reason, the UFC decided to forego giving him an official Performance bonus, though the decision-makers found a way to take care of him with the "Mobland"-promotion "Chaos" bonus for $50,000, which UFC CEO Dana White said he would match. It’s worth noting that Sharaf spent the pre-fight buildup absolutely destroying Steveson for his history as an accused rapist. The state of Minnesota can thank Steveson, in part, for a change in state law. Steveson and a University of Minnesota teammate were arrested for suspicion of rape in 2019. But a legal loophole, at the time, said that if a sexual assault victim was drunk, and voluntarily drank, then they could not be considered “mentally incapacitated” and unable to consent. That, of course, is patently absurd, and the state of Minnesota fixed that law after cases like Steveson’s.
Finish bonus: Patricio Freire ($25,000)
Patricio Freire (38-9 MMA, 2-2 UFC) got his first finish in 2.5 years when he did something to Dooho Choi (17-5-1 MMA, 6-4-1 UFC) that hadn’t happened to him in nearly seven years and put him out cold. The win was Freire’s first stoppage in the UFC.
Finish bonus: Marlon Vera ($25,000)
Marlon Vera (24-12-1 MMA, 16-11 UFC) had his back against the wall with four straight losses and five setbacks in his past six fights. But he pulled off the upset and took out Charles Jourdain (18-9-1 MMA, 9-8-1 UFC) in the third round.
Finish bonus: Ryan Gandra ($25,000)
Ryan Gandra (11-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) knows nothing but first-round finishes in the UFC, and he kept that intact when he knocked out Ozzy Diaz (10-5 MMA, 1-3 UFC) in the opening frame.
Finish bonus: Joanderson Brito ($25,000)
Joanderson Brito (20-5-1 MMA, 8-3 UFC) ducked just under a slick head kick from Giga Chikadze (15-7 MMA, 8-5 UFC), and when it missed, Chikadze came off his feet and hit the canvas. Brito was on him in an instant, and moments later he had Chikadze out from his ground-and-pound in less than two minutes.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC 331: Sean Sharaf cashes ‘Chaos’ bonus after embarrassing Gable Steveson
