UFC 288 Bonuses: Movsar Evloev, Diego Lopes Receive ‘Fight of the Night’ Honors

Diego Lopes gave Movsar Evloev a tougher test than anyone could have imagined, and both fighter’s bank accounts benefitted as a result.

Evloev and Lopes garnered “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their entertaining featherweight feature bout at UFC 288 on Saturday night. Lopes, who accepted the bout on less than a week’s notice, rocked his foe with a right hand early and threatened with multiple submission attempts throughout the fight. Ultimately, Evloev prevailed via unanimous decision behind superior striking, pressure and wrestling.

Elsewhere, Xiaonan Yan earned a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for her first-round knockout of Jessica Andrade in a strawweight clash on the main card. Yan capitalized on her opponent’s reckless aggression, as she dropped Andrade with a counter right hand and finished the bout with follow-up punches on the canvas at the 2:20 mark of the period.

Finally, Matt Frevola received the evening’s other $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check by virtue of a stoppage of Drew Dober in their preliminary lightweight encounter. Frevola dropped Dober with a counter right and then swarmed with ground-and-pound to earn the stoppage 4:08 into the opening stanza.