Nate Diaz ($48,000/win bonus $24,000) def. Melvin Guillard ($14,000)

*Diaz also pocketed an extra $30,000 for Submission of the Night, for his guillotine of Melvin.

Main Card:

Gray Maynard ($24,000/win bonus $12,000) def. Roger Huerta ($21,000)

Carlos Condit ($48,000/win bonus $24,000) def. Jake Ellenberger ($10,000)

Nate Quarry ($60,000/win bonus $30,000) def. Tim Credeur ($10,000)

*Quarry and Credeur each earned an extra $30,000 Fight of the Night

Prelim Card:

Brian Stann ($22,000/win bonus $11,000) def. Steve Cantwell ($10,000)

Mike Pyle ($30,000/win bonus $15,000) def. Chris Wilson ($17,000)

CB Dollaway ($28,000/win bonus $14,000) def. Jay Silva ($6,000)

Sam Stout ($24,000/ win bonus was $12,000) vs. Phillipe Nover ($20,000/win bonus was $10,000)

*This was a nice touch by the UFC, awarding both fighters their win bonuses, despite the fact the Oklahoma State Commission denied the fight, due to Nover suffering a seizure hours before fight time.

Jeremy Stephens ($24,000/win bonus $12,000) def. Justin Buchholz ($8,000)

*Stephens also got an extra $30,000 for Knockout of the Night…which was the only knockout of the night, but I don’t think L’il Heathen is complainin’

Mike Pierce ($12,000/win bonus $6,000) def. Brock Larson ($26,000)

Ryan Jensen ($8,000/win bonus $4,000) def. Steve Steinbeiss ($6,000)

Quick Jabs: Strikeforce 185lb Champion Cung Le has relinquished his title, the title he won from Frank Shamrock in March 2008. Le has never defended the title. He has been tied up with various outside film projects. Mayhem Miller and Jake Shields are expected to fight for the vacant belt this fall. Looks like the UFC isn’t the only ones with the Hollywood blues.

Main Event:

Cristiane Santos: $25,000 (includes $5,000 win bonus), Gina Carano: $125,000, Santos defeated Carano via TKO at 4:59 of round one.

Main Card:

Gegard Mousasi: $2,000 (no win bonus),Renato Sobral: $75,000, Mousasi defeated Sobral via TKO at 1:00 of round one.

Gilbert Melendez: $50,000 (no win bonus), Mitsuhiro Ishida: $30,000,Melendez defeated Ishida via TKO at 3:56 of round three.

Fabricio Werdum: $50,000 (includes $25,000 win bonus), Mike Kyle: $14,000, Werdum defeated Kyle via Sub at 1:24 of round one.

Jay Hieron: $55,000 (includes $30,000 win bonus), Jesse Taylor: $12,000, Hieron defeated Taylor via UD.

Undercard:

Scott Lighty: $4,000 (no win bonus), Mike Cook: $2,500, Lighty defeated Cook via TKO at 2:05 of round one.

Justin Wilcox: $5,000 (includes $2,500 win bonus), David Douglas: $5,500, Wilcox defeated Douglas via submission (rear naked choke) at 3:16 of round three.

James Terry: $6,000 (includes $3,000 win bonus), Zak Bucia: $2,000, Terry defeated Bucia via technical knockout (strikes) at 1:23 of round one.

Alexander Trevino: $3,500 (includes $1,500 win bonus), Isaiah Hill: $2,000, Trevino defeated Hill via submission (keylock) at 3:56 of round one.

Looks like they’re close to the UFC’s numbers, at least the undercard guys anyways. They must get a decent amount of change from their sponsors, because there’s no way a fighter can live off of $2000 every 3-4 months for a fight.

Main Event:

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson $325,000 (with $100,000 win bonus) defeated Keith Jardine $55,000 by decision.

Main Card:

Shane Carwin $32,000 (with $16,000 win bonus) defeated Gabriel Gonzaga $60,000 by KO.

Matt Brown $16,000 (with $8,000 win bonus) defeated Pete Sell $12,000 by TKO.

Matt Hamill $40,000 (with $20,000 win bonus) defeated Mark Munoz $12,000 by KO.

Gray Maynard $20,000 (with $10,000 win bonus) defeated Jim Miller $9,000 by decision.

Preliminaries:

Tamdan McCrory $20,000 (with $10,000 win bonus) defeated Ryan Madigan $3,000 by TKO.

Kendall Grove $44,000 (with $22,000 win bonus) defeated Jason Day $5,000 by KO.

Jason Brilz $10,000 (with $5,000 win bonus) defeated Tim Boetsch $12,000 by decision.

Brandon Vera $60,000 (with $30,000 win bonus…wow, quite the far cry from the 100k +100k, 115k+115k he was offered about 18 months ago by the UFC) defeated Mike Patt $5,000 by TKO.

Shane Nelson $16,000 (with $8,000 win bonus) defeated Aaron Riley $6,000 by TKO.

UFC 96 Awards and Bonuses, a cool $60,000 each

96 Fight of the Night:
Quinton Jackson and Keith Jardine. Not a surprise, both guys showed guts, especially Jardine who kept coming back for more punishment.

UFC 96 Knockout of the Night:
Matt Hamill. Really, this award could have easily gone to Shane Carwin or Kendall Grove. There were KOs and TKOs galore on this card, a real crowd pleaser, even if the card itself lacked real star power. This is one of the pains we have to deal with as the UFC works through injuries as well as loads up on UFC 100 in July.

UFC 96 Submission of the Night:
There were no submissions…but couldn’t they have handed out TWO KO’s of the night awards?? Carwin and Grove deserved better.

Fedor Emelianenko $300,000 def. Andre Arlovski by KO $1,500,000
Don’t feel bad that Fedor didn’t get as many rubles as Arlovski; Fedor has the aforementioned backdoor deal that, rumor has it, pays him in excess of $2 million dollars. That’s a lot of rubles for knocking out the former UFC champ, Arlovski.

Josh Barnett $500,000 def. Gilbert Yvel by Tap Out $30,000
Not a bad payday for sure for Barnett. So much for the rumor that Affliction was going to ask their talent to take a %50 pay cut.

Vitor Belfort $200,000 ($80,000 to show up, $120,000 to win) def. Matt Lindland $225,000
This was the Vitor of old. Just a charging flurry of punches. Scary looking knockout of Lindland, a top 5 middleweight.

Renato Sobral $90,000 ($60,000 to show up, $30,000 to win) def. Sokoudjou $50,000
Seems like Soko is just a one-trick, one round pony. He had better learn some ground and improve his cardio. Looking like the Predator will only get you so far before you have to back it up.

Paul Buentello $90,000 ($70,000 to show up, $20,000 to win) def. Kiril Sidelnikov $10,000
I wonder if I can talk my boss into this kind of a deal? Pay me to show up, and if I work, pay me some more.

Dan Lauzon $12,000 def. Bobby Green $4,000
Gutys effort on the part of Green, taking this fight on four day’s notice.

Jay Hieron $45,000 ($20,000 to show up, $25,000 to win) def. Jason High $10,000
Too bad Heiron is on the GSP knockout highlight reel. He’s a talented guy, but that darn KO loss to GSP!!

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira $150,000 ($120,000 to show up, $30,000 to win) def. V. Matyushenko $50,000
Where else does a person NOT make the pay per view, and make more (disclosed) money than most UFC Main Eventers?

L.C. Davis $14,000 ($7,000 to show up, $7,000 to win) def. Bao Quach $7,000

Albert Rios $6,000 ($3,000 to show up, $3,000 to win) def. Antonio Duarte $3,000

Brett Cooper $10,000 ($5,000 to show, $5,000 to win) def. Patrick Speight $2,000

The total disclosed fighter payroll for Affliction’s second card was $3,308,000, not including the rumored $5 million dollar fee they gave Oscar De La Hoya “to show up”

In comparison, UFC 92′s fighter payroll was $1,381,000. Do the math: Less pay per view buys, less sponsorship money, plus higher payroll = out of business soon.

MAIN EVENT FIGHTERS:

Efrain Escuerdo ($16,000/win bonus $8,000) defeated Phillipe Nover ($8,000)

Ryan Bader ($16,000/win bonus $8,000) defeated Vinicius Magalhaes ($8,000)

MAIN CARD FIGHTERS:

Anthony Johnson ($18,000/win bonus $9,000) defeated Kevin Burns ($7,000)
*Johnson also earned an extra $25k for Knockout of the Night.

Wilson Gouveia ($36,800/win bonus $18,400) defeated Jason MacDonald ($35,200)
*Gouveia was forced to forfeit $9,200 of his total purse for failing to make weight.

Junie Browning ($16,000/win bonus $8,000) defeated Dave Kaplan ($8,000)
*Browning and Kaplan each earned an extra $25k for Fight of the Night

PRELIMINARY CARD FIGHTERS:

Krzysztof Soszynski ($16,000/win bonus $8,000) defeated Shane Primm ($8,000)
*Soszynski also earned an extra $25k for Submission of the Night

Eliot Marshall ($16,000/win bonus $8,000) defeated Jules Bruchez ($8,000)

Tom Lawlor ($16,000/win bonus $8,000) defeated Kyle Kingsbury ($8,000)

Shane Nelson ($16,000/win bonus $8,000) defeated George Roop ($8,000)

Rolando Delgado ($16,000/win bonus $8,000) defeated John Polakowski ($8,000)

I have a feeling we’ve seen the last of these guys in the UFC: Dave Kaplan, Shane Primm, Jules Bruchez, Kle Kingsbury, George Roop and John Polakowski…at least for a while. It’s all about “what have you done for me lately?” and these guys weren’t overly impressive to begin with.

Main Event Fighters:

Brock Lesnar ($450,000/win bonus $200,000) defeated Randy Couture ($250,000) his win bonus would have been $250,000

Main Card Fighters:

Kenny Florian ($80,000/win bonus $40,000) defeated Joe Stevenson ($35,000) win bonus would have been $35,000

Gabriel Gonzaga ($110,000/win bonus $55,000) defeated Josh Hendricks ($8,000) his win bonus would have been $8,000

Dustin Hazelett ($28,000/win bonus $11,000) defeated Tamdan McCrory ($10,000) his win bonus would have been $10,000

Demian Maia ($40,000/win bonus $20,000) defeated Nate Quarry ($25,000) his win bonus would have been $25,000

Preliminary Fighters:

Aaron Riley ($8,000/win bonus $4,000) defeated Jorge Gurgel ($10,000) his win bonus would have been $10,000

Jeremy Stephens ($16,000/win bonus $8,000) defeated Rafael Dos Anjos ($4,000) his win bonus would have been $4,000

Mark Bocek ($18,000/win bonus $9,000) defeated Alvin Robinson ($7,000) his win bonus would have been $7,000

Matt Brown ($16,000/win bonus $8,000) defeated Ryan Thomas ($3,000) his win bonus would have been $3,000

Total disclosed fighter payroll: $1,118,000

In addition, the UFC handed out the following $60,000 bonuses:

Fight of the Night
Aaron Riley and Jorge Gurgel for their back and forth entertaining slugfest.

91 Knockout of the Night
Jeremy Stephens for his absolutely devastating uppercut knockout. Quite honestly, even though Stephens is a lightweight, he likely would have knocked out a heavyweight with how clean and strong of a shot he caught Dos Anjos with.

Submission of the Night
Dustin Hazelett for his nasty looking armbar on the “Barncat”

UFC 88 Fighter bonuses were worth $60,000 each.

Knockout of the Night: Rashad Evans
As if there was any doubt. As Liddell moved in for an uppercut, Evans took a page out of his book and landed a big overhand right, catching Liddell on the chin. Liddell’s limbs folded up on the canvas in awkward positions, and was the most brutal knockout since Gabriel Gonzaga KO’s Mirko CroCop.

Submission of the Night: Jason MacDonald
Canadian MacDonald gave Jason Lambert a rude welcome to the 185lb class (and possibly showed him the door) by locking on a text book rear naked choke.

Fight of the Night: Kurt Pellegrino and Thiago Tavares
Unfortunately for the rest of us, this bout was on the undercard and went the full 15 minutes. Pellegrino came out with the upper hand and Tavares has now lost two straight, though both losses were exciting fights.