UFC 236 bonuses: Dustin Poirier, Max Holloway, Israel Adesanya, and Kelvin Gastelum earn honors
When two of the best fights of the year happen on one card, it’s only fair that the four fighters involved get a little extra.
Such was the case at UFC 236 on Saturday evening in Atlanta, where the main and co-main events delivered in spades. As a result, a pair of Fight of the Night awards were handed out (instead of the standard one Fight of the Night and two Performance of the Night bonuses) to Dustin Poirier, Max Holloway, Israel Adesanya, and Kelvin Gastelum.
All four men will receive an extra $50,000 bonus.
Poirier and Holloway closed the show in a thrilling rematch of a February 2012 encounter that Poirier won by submission. The former featherweights showed how far they’ve come since then, going back-and-forth for five rounds with an interim lightweight championship on the line. In the end, Poirier earned the decision and the title.
This is the fourth straight appearance in which Poirier has earned a fight night bonus and he has now collected 10 in his 22-fight UFC career. Holloway is also no stranger to bonuses, as he now has eight on his resume.
As astounding as the main event was, it was arguably overshadowed by a co-headliner between Adesanya and Gastelum that saw both fighters absorb an ungodly amount of punishment. The unbeaten Adesanya emerged the victor and is now the UFC’s interim middleweight champion.
That’s four straight fight night bonuses for Adesanya as well and he has received an extra $50,000 in all but one of his six UFC appearances. Gastelum has earned three straight bonuses and six overall.