Only two fights at UFC 306 ended without requiring the judges and both fighters to earn stoppages on the night also walked away with Performance of the Night bonuses.
Ignacio Bahamondes was given one for his knockout of Manuel Torres and Ketlen Souza for her upset of Yazmin Jauregui, while lightweights Esteban Ribovics and Daniel Zellhuber earned Fight of the Night for their back-and-forth brawl on the main card.
“It’s one of the best fights I’ve ever seen,” UFC president Dana White said at the post-fight press conference following the first live sporting event at the Sphere in Las Vegas.
Argentina’s Ribovics got the split decision over Mexico’s Zellhuber in a fight that featured multiple momentum shifts and saw the pair combined for 277 significant strikes in the 15-minute bout and both were nearly finished.
Brazil’s Souza picked up the biggest win of her UFC career as a huge underdog against Yazmin Jauregui, choking her opponent out cold seconds after dropping her with a massive left hook.
That club-and-sub was only her second career submission victory and was her first stoppage win in more than three years.
Bahamondes used a beautiful counter right hand to fell the dangerous Torres in the opening round of their preliminary lightweight matchup.
All four athletes were awarded $50,000 bonuses for their performances.