Alex Pereira gave the UFC and its fans plenty to celebrate.
Stepping in on short notice against a dangerous opponent he’d defeated just seven months ago, Pereira put on one hell of an encore as he once again put Jiri Prochazka away via strikes in the main event of UFC 303 on Saturday in Las Vegas. Their first fight concluded with a fair, if early stoppage, but there was no doubt that Pereira had Prochazka’s number in the rematch.
For his efforts, the light heavyweight champion was awarded a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus, his fifth since joining the UFC in 2021.
Fight of the Night went to featherweight veterans Andre Fili and Cub Swanson. The two clashed on the preliminary portion of the card, with Fili eking out a close split decision.
Earlier in the week, UFC CEO Dana White teased that he would hand out two Fight of the Night bonuses to commemorate UFC 303. Though he didn’t follow up on that, there were six total bonuses handed out with three other fighters receiving Performance of the Night bonuses in addition to Pereira.
Macy Chiasson was the other main card fighter to receive an extra $50,000 after she scored the biggest win of her career over recent bantamweight title challenger Mayra Bueno Silva. An elbow from Chiasson opened a gaping cut over Silva’s right eye, which forced a doctor stoppage.
Preliminary fighters Payton Talbott and Joe Pyfer also cashed in with fast knockouts. Talbott, a blue-chip bantamweight prospect, needed just 19 seconds to put Yanis Ghemmouri out, while Pyfer bounced back from his first UFC loss by smashing Marc-Andre Barriault in under half a minute.
