UFC 145 took place on Saturday night. After an almost entirely underwhelming preliminary card, things really picked up during the pay-per-view. There were a few great fights, two legitimate knockouts and a main event that lived up to the off-the-charts hype, as Jon Jones successfully defended his Light Heavyweight Championship against Rashad Evans. After the event was over, the bonuses were awarded for Fight of the Night, Knockout of the Night and Submission of the Night.
While the choices for Submission of the Night were limited to exactly one, Travis Browne certainly earned his $65,000 bonus for creating the only truly watchable fight of the undercard, a one-round manhandling of Chad Griggs that ended with a head and arm triangle choke.
The choice to determine Knockout of the Night was a bit more difficult, as both knockouts were spectacular in their own way. I personally would have given the bonus to Modesto native Michael McDonald for his flash knockout of Miguel Torres via uppercut, but the actual bonus check went to Ben Rothwell. Rothwell defeated Brendan Schaub by knocking him out cold in the first round of their fight. The knockout was in more brutal fashion, which is why it probably got the nod.
Finally, the Fight of the Night bonuses went to Mark Hominick and Eddie Yagin for their Featherweight fight that went the distance and saw Yagin win via split decision. While that choice for FoN is probably the right call -- a highly competitive and close match that featured plenty of big hits and left both men bruised and bloody -- I wouldn't have called it the most entertaining or thrilling fight of the night. I would have given those honors to the main event, the Browne-Griggs fight, or the absolute mugging of Che Wills by the incredibly impressive Rory MacDonald.
For more UFC 145 results, please stay tuned to this StoryStream. For all news and information regarding mixed martial arts, stay tuned to either MMA Fighting or Bloody Elbow.
