UFC 148: Fighter Bonuses and Attendance, biggest Gate in US history
The attendance and post-fight bonuses have been announced for tonight’s UFC 148 from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Bonuses of $75,000 each, were awarded for Submission of the Night, Fight of the Night went to Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin and the Knockout of the Night was awarded to Anderson Silva for his TKO victory over Chael Sonnen. The total bonus payout for this event came to $225,000. These numbers do not represent any pay-per-view bonuses or victory bonuses.
UFC President Dana White gave the attendance as 15,060 at the post fight press conference and said that the attendance figure, “represented the biggest gate in America and UFC 148 is set to break all pay-per-view records””. The live gate was $7 million.
The $75,000 bonuses were issued as follows:
Knockout of the Night:
The Knockout of the Night Bonus went to Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva against challenger Chael Sonnen. Sonnen scored an early takedown and kept Silva on the mat for most of the entire first round, but Silva got inside his guard and stayed there, keeping the challenger from moving forward. Sonnen looked to take Silva down again in the second round, forcing Silva against the cage. The two separated and Sonnen went for a wild spinning back fist, which missed its mark and Sonnen slipped from the momentum. Anderson responded by firing a knee to Sonnen’s chest and then landed a hail of strikes on top of him until he was stopped by Referee Yves Lavigne, winning by TKO.
Fight of the Night:
The Fight of the Night bonus went to Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin in the Main Event. This fight was a rubber match between the two and Ortiz’s farewell bout. Unfortunately for Ortiz, his monumental 15-year career ended with a loss by decision. Ortiz rocked Griffin in the second and third rounds but Griffin sustained his attack. Griffin was able to land a number of kicks to Ortiz’s legs and body and controlled most of the fight which ended with all three judges giving him the decision.
The Post Event Press Conference video is below:
