UFC 170 bonuses: Rousey, Thompson, MacDonald, Maia win $50,000
LAS VEGAS – Ronda Rousey, Stephen Thompson, Rory MacDonald and Demian Maia each earned $50,000 bonuses for their performances at Saturday’s UFC 170 event.
MacDonald and Maia earned the “Fight of the Night,†and Rousey and Thompson each won “Performance of the Night†honors.
UFC officials announced the winners at the night’s post-event news conference, which MMAjunkie attended.
UFC 170 took place at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.
Rousey (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) stopped Sara McMann (7-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) just 66 seconds into their main-event women’s bantamweight title fight. And for the first time in her career, she won with something other than an armbar. Rousey drilled McMann with several knees in the clinch, and after McMann went to the canvas, Rousey hit her with three punches before Herb Dean stepped in to stop the fight.
Thompson (9-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) picked up a big first-round TKO win over Robert Whittaker (11-4 MMA, 2-2 UFC), stopping him with punches at the 3:43 mark. It was Thompson’s third straight win, and three of his UFC wins now have come by knockout.
MacDonald (16-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) beat Maia (18-6 MMA, 12-6 UFC) by unanimous decision, and he had to survive a rough first round to get back in the win column. Maia took MacDonald down in the first, and kept him on his back most of the round. But in the second and third, MacDonald was able to stay on his feet and dominated in the striking game.
