UFC Fight Night 188 Bonuses: Carla Esparza Pockets $50K for Dominant Victory

Carla Esparza rode her wrestling to an extra $50,000 on Saturday night.

The former strawweight queen received a “Performance of the Night” bonus for a beatdown of Xiaonan Yan in the UFC Fight Night 188 co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Esparza grounded her opponent with ease and forced a stoppage with punches and elbows from the crucifix position at the 2:58 mark of Round 2 for her fifth straight promotional triumph.

Elsewhere, Jared Vanderaa and Justin Tafa garnered “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their slugfest in a featured heavyweight bout. While both men had their moments, Vanderaa landed with more volume and variety en route to a unanimous decision triumph.

Finally, Bruno Silva earned the card’s other $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for making short work of Victor Rodriguez in a preliminary flyweight scrap. A massive right hand and follow-up punches on the canvas brought an end to the bout just 60 seconds after it began.