Conor McGregor, Aleksei Oleinik, Brian Kelleher, Diego Ferreira and Drew Dober each earned $50,000 bonuses for their performances at Saturday’s UFC 246 event.
The fighters took “Performance of the Night” honors – with the UFC giving out five awards instead of its typical four. No “Fight of the Night” was awarded. Each of the five had finishes in their fights; the other six winners on the card won by decisions.
UFC officials announced the winners following the event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
McGregor (22-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) needed just 40 seconds to stop the UFC’s all-time wins leader, Donald Cerrone (36-14 MMA, 23-11 UFC), in the main event. McGregor hadn’t won a fight in more than three years and was returning from a 15-month layoff. The controversial Irishman, known more for his issues outside the cage than in it the past year, finally put some shine back on his fighting skills with the kind of destruction that hadn’t befallen the legendary “Cowboy” before in his long career.
Oleinik (58-13-1 MMA, 7-4 UFC) had to put some work in to submit Maurice Greene (8-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC) in the second round. But after working hard for a submission in the first, he finally got one late in the second – his 58th career victory.
Kelleher (20-10 MMA, 4-3 UFC) had his fight against Ode Osbourne (8-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) moved to the main card Friday after the weigh-ins. He took advantage of the prime spot with an upset of Osbourne midway through the first round with a guillotine choke.
Ferreira (17-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) picked up arguably the biggest win of his career with a second-round submission of former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis (22-10 MMA, 9-9 UFC). Ferreira won for the sixth straight time and won by submission for the first time since June 2014.
Dober (22-9 MMA, 8-5 UFC) took out heavy favorite Nasrat Haqparast (11-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC) with a TKO just 70 seconds into the first round. Haqparast was more than a 3-1 favorite, but Dober picked up his second straight knockout in 70 seconds or less.
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