UFC 271 Bonuses: De Andrade, Morozov, Tuivasa & Cannonier All Earn $50K

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to Houston on Saturday with a pay-per-view card anchored by the UFC middleweight championship fight between Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker.

However, as intriguing as the main event was, it paled in comparison to their initial meeting and four other fighters on the UFC 271 card racked up post-fight bonuses. The usual Fight of the Night and two Performance of the Night bonuses were handed out and they were well deserved.

Douglas Silva de Andrade and Sergey Morozov captured $50K each for their excellent skirmish that led to their winning the FOTN. De Andrade was rattled badly early on in their bantamweight tussle when he swallowed an uppercut, knee and elbows early. Morozov had the Brazilian battered and bloodied, but de Andrade rallied in the second frame and dropped his foe with shots to the head and body. Once on the canvas, de Andrade sunk in the rear-naked choke and put Morozov to sleep.

Heavyweight slugger Tai Tuivasa pocketed $50K for his thrilling second-round knockout of the fierce fan-favorite Derrick Lewis. The giants opened up their attacks in the second after a rather uneventful opening stanza and when they did, the earth nearly shifted when it was over. Lewis was swinging wildly for the KO but Tuivasa withstood the attacks and rocked Lewis with a few punches and elbows to the head. When the two men clinched briefly against the cage, Tuivasa unloaded a massive right elbow, forcing the Lewis to fall face first.

Finally, middleweight contender Jared Cannonier made a statement for a shot at the title when he bludgeoned the streaking Derek Brunson en route to a second-round finish. Cannonier was relentless and in control early and wore Brunson down with his pressure. A series of punches and elbows hurt Brunson and once “The Killa Gorilla” dropped his adversary, a series of ruthless elbows to the head ended the mugging at the 4:29 mark of the frame, nabbing a cool $50K.