BIG BONUSES AND RECORD ATTENDANCE AT UFC 105

Courtesy of mmaweekly.com

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to Manchester, England, for the first time in two and a half years on Saturday night for UFC 105: Couture vs. Vera. The promotion celebrated by handing out healthy $40,000 bonus checks to the fighters that took home awards for their performances on the night.

Fight of the Night honors went to Manchester’s own Michael Bisping and his opponent, Denis Kang. The fight was all Kang’s early on, but Bisping came back strong, showing a much-improved ground game before securing a second-round TKO. It was a strong rebound for Bisping following his knockout loss to Dan Henderson his last time out.

Dennis Siver impressed with his spinning back kick that dropped Paul Kelly, who got back up before Siver finished him off with strikes to earn the Knockout of the Night.

The Submission of the Night was handed to Terry Etim, who submitted Shannon Gugerty with a guillotine choke in round two. It was the only submission on Saturday night, but enough to finish the fight and earn a $40,000 bonus check.

UFC 105 set a promotion record for highest attendance at a European event at 16,693, with a gate of more the $2 million.

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