MACAU – Cung Le, Thiago Silva, Takanori Gomi and Mac Danzig each earned $40,000 bonuses for their performances at Saturday’s “UFC on FUEL TV: Franklin vs. Le” event.
Le won the “KO of the Night” bonus, Silva earned the “Submission of the Night” award, and Gomi and Danzig picked up “Fight of the Night” honors.
UFC President Dana White announced the winners and bonus amounts following the event, which took place at CotaiArena in Venetian Macau Resort Hotel. It was the UFC’s first event in China.
UFC on FUEL TV 6’s main card aired on FUEL TV following prelims on Facebook. Le’s and Silva’s wins were the only ones that didn’t go to the judges on an otherwise decision-heavy card.
Le, fighting for the third time in a year, took his time against Rich Franklin in the main event. But when Franklin threw an outside leg kick, Le timed his counter perfectly. His massive right hand hit Franklin squarely on the chin and planted the Ohioan face first on the canvas. The Vietnamese Le instantly began to celebrate the win on his home continent, which was perhaps the biggest knockout and win of his career.
Silva endured two rounds of Stanislav Nedkov pushing him against the fence in the co-main event. But in the third round, Silva turned the corner and landed a kick against a visibly tiring Nedkov, then took him down. Once on the ground, Silva made quick work of the Bulgarian, going from full mount to an arm-triangle choke to force the tap 1:45 into the frame.
A trio of decisions made strong cases for “Fight of the Night,” but it was Gomi’s split call over Danzig, the Season 6 winner of “The Ultimate Fighter,” that got the nod. Gomi picked up a pair of 29-28 scores from the judges in the fight, which was largely contested on the feet. It was Danzig’s third bonus in four fights, though he’s just 2-2 in those contests.
Jon Tuck’s unanimous decision win over Tiequan Zhang made a case for the fight bonus, as did John Lineker’s unanimous decision call over Yasuhiro Urushitani.
For complete coverage of UFC on FUEL TV 6, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.
(Pictured: Mac Danzig)
