UFC 153 bonuses: Nogueira, Jason, Fitch, and Silva receive $70K

There were four fighters that went home a little richer following the UFC 153 event that took place on Saturday night in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Rony Jason, Jon Fitch, and Erick Silva were all recipients of $70,000 in bonuses. UFC officials made the announcement during the post-fight press conference.

Nogueira took home “Submission of the Night” honors for his second round armbar victory over Dave Herman. Nogueira was close to finishing Herman with it in the first round after hurting him on the feet. However, Nogueira showed why he’s arguably the greatest heavyweight submission artist of all time when he got the armbar in the second round. It was equally gratifying since Herman has always been outspoken about his belief that jiu-jitsu was ineffective and had never been submitted until Saturday night.

Jason took home “Knockout of the Night” honors with a third round TKO win over Sam Sicilia. Both fighters were going after one another in a back and forth affair, but Jason was too much in the end.

Fitch and Erick Silva received the “Fight of the Night” award for their back and forth fight. Fitch returned from a long hiatus to win the fight via unanimous decision. It was a fight that had a little bit of everything including close submission attempts, but in the end Fitch proved he was too much for the young up and comer.