On a card with seven stoppages, there was plenty of competition for bonus awards at UFC Fight Night 190.
The UFC handed out four $50,000 bonuses – two “Performance of the Night” awards and a “Fight of the Night” – after the card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
UFC Fight Night 190 bonuses
“Fight of the Night”: Raoni Barcelos vs. Timur Valiev
Timur Valiev (18-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) pulled off one of the event’s biggest upsets when he took a majority decision from Raoni Barcelos (16-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC). Valiev won with a pair of 29-28 scores; a third judge scored the fight a 28-28 draw. Barcelos was a -225 favorite. When Barcelos seemed to slow down late in the fight, Valiev used it to his advantage to hand Barcelos his first loss in the UFC.
“Performance of the Night”: Marcin Prachnio
Marcin Prachnio (15-5 MMA, 2-3 UFC) had a rough start to his UFC career with three straight losses. But now he has two wins in a row after a brutal TKO of Ike Villanueva (18-12 MMA, 1-3 UFC) that came courtesy of a perfectly placed liver kick in the second round. A second after the kick landed, Villanueva buckled over and fell to his knees. Prachnio moved in for finishing shots in case he needed them, but Herb Dean quickly shut things down.
“Performance of the Night”: Kennedy Nzechukwu
Kennedy Nzechukwu (9-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) struggled early against Danilo Marques (11-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC). But in the third round, he got some momentum and refused to take his foot off the gas. He landed punches in bunches with Marques backed against the fence until he got a standing TKO win.