UFC Fight Night 34 bonuses: Saffiedine, Lim, Holloway, Doane earn $50,000
SINGAPORE – Tarec Saffiedine, Hyun Gyu Lim, Max Holloway and Russell Doane each earned $50,000 bonuses for their performances at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 34 event.
Holloway earned the “Knockout of the Night,†Doane won “Submission of the Night†and Saffiedine and Lim picked up “Fight of the Night†honors.
MMAjunkie confirmed the bonuses with UFC President Dana White prior to the post-event news conference.
UFC Fight Night 34 took place at Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore. It streamed on the UFC’s new Fight Pass digital network.
Holloway (8-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC) and Chope (19-6 MMA, 0-1 UFC) slugged it out in the first round, with each featherweight taking a turn at dishing out damage. But Holloway’s came in the second half the first frame, and he continued that swarm in the second. With Chope pushed to the fence, Holloway unloaded with punches and a spinning kick before finally putting Chope away.
Doane (13-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC), fighting in the card’s opening fight, should’ve struggled on the ground against Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Leandro Issa (11-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC). But the Hawaiian, who quit his job when he got the call for his UFC debut, latched onto a triangle choke in the second and put Issa to sleep with one second left in the round. To do so, he had to survive an Issa choke attempt in the first.
Saffiedine (15-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and Lim (12-4-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) engaged in a striking war over five rounds, with Saffiedine working some of his vintage leg kicks en route to a win in the main event. Late in the third, Saffiedine hobbled Lim with leg kicks, dropping him. Seconds later, he dropped him with another kick – and celebrated early. Lim answered the bell in the fourth, but it was hard for him to muster big offense working on one good leg – though it wasn’t for lack of heart. He lasted the full 25 minutes, in fact, and despite being on a lame left leg, Lim even mustered some solid offense in the final 10 minutes, right up to the horn.
