AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – B.J. Penn, Phil Davis, George Sotiropoulos and Joe Lauzon each earned $80,000 “Fight Night” bonuses for their performances at “UFC 123: Rampage vs. Machida.”
Penn needed only 21 seconds to earn his “Knockout of the Night” award, while Davis “kimura’d” his way to his “Submission of the Night” bonus, and Sotiropoulos and Lauzon shared “Fight of the Night” honors.
B.J. Penn concluded his rubber match with Matt Hughes in dominating fashion, finishing off the welterweight legend in just 21 seconds. Penn came out with guns blazing, stunning Hughes with a quick combo, but it was a big, counter right hand that sent Hughes to the canvas, and after a flurry of follow-up shots, the fight was stopped by referee Dan Miragliotta. The devastating and stunning KO earned Penn an extra $80k for “Knockout of the Night.”
Phil Davis kept his unbeaten streak alive, dominating Tim Boetsch on the ground, all while inventing his own submission along the way. After isolating the arm of Boetsch, and looking for a straight arm bar or kimura attempt, Davis locked the arm of Boetsch behind his back, switched hands, and pulled off an almost one-handed variation of the kimura. The finish would give him 80,000 reasons to come up with a clever name for the submission.
As expected, George Sotiropoulos and Joe Lauzen engaged in a battle that would end up being “Fight of the Night.” Lauzon looked great early, getting the best of the stand up on the feet, but was visibly fatigued in the second frame. Sotiropoulos capitalized, taking the fight to the ground, and after advancing to side mount, locked up a fight-ending kimura to seal the victory.
Damn. BJ Penn got a very nice pay day. Not like he needs the money though.