UFC Fight Night 185 Bonuses: Lewis, Daukaus, Aspinall, Zahabi Earn $50K Checks

Derrick Lewis’ massive knockout of Curtis Blaydes halted the championship aspirations of his opponent, and it made “The Black Beast” $50,000 richer in the process.

Lewis received a “Performance of the Night” bonus thanks to a finish of Blaydes 1:26 into the second round of their heavyweight headliner at UFC Fight Night 185 on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. After getting outstruck for a round, Lewis timed a Blaydes’ takedown attempt and blasted his foe with an uppercut. The Houston native sealed his win with a pair of brutal ground strikes.

Elsewhere, Chris Daukaus garnered a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award for making short work of Alexey Oleynik in a featured heavyweight matchup. Daukaus forced the submission specialist to remain standing and rocked the Russian with a right hand, then swarmed with punches and knees against the fence to secure a stoppage 1:55 into Round 1.

Tom Aspinall was the third heavyweight on the main card to take home a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check, as he submitted Andrei Arlovski with a rear-naked choke. The Englishman rocked his foe with a combination in Round 1 but was unable to put “The Pit Bull” away. In Round 2, Aspinall shifted, gears, scored a double-leg takedown and quickly locked in the fight-ending hold 69 seconds into the frame.

Earlier, Aiemann Zahabi returned from hiatus to earn the event’s final $50,000 “Performance of the Night” payday with a resounding knockout of Drako Rodriguez in a preliminary bantamweight encounter. While Rodriguez fared well in early exchanges, Zahabi landed the decisive blow when he countered an uppercut with an overhand right to end the bout 3:05 into the opening stanza.