UFC Fight Night 63 bonuses: Chad Mendes amongst four fighters awarded $50,000 for stoppages

The UFC produced a daytime fight card based in North America for the first time in 2015, and the event brought with it some…

By: Karim Zidan | 8 years ago
UFC Fight Night 63 bonuses: Chad Mendes amongst four fighters awarded $50,000 for stoppages
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

The UFC produced a daytime fight card based in North America for the first time in 2015, and the event brought with it some entertaining action for the fans in attendance during the holiday.  Several fighters were awarded performance bonuses for their efforts, while a slew of others could be handed their walking papers for being on the losing end.

In the main event of the evening, Chad Mendes blasted his way past fourth ranked Ricardo Lamas in under a round, which proved once again that he is one of the best fighters in the featherweight division. He continues to knock out opponents not named Jose Aldo and it is becoming difficult to match him up against fighters at that weight class.

The UFC Fight Night 63 main card also featured the return of Julianna Pena, as she needed less than a round to earn her first win since November 2013. Given that she had just come back from a devastating knee injury, her TKO victory over Milana Dudieva was an impressive one.

Dustin Poirier made an emphatic return to the lightweight division in the opening fight on the main card, as he knocked out Diego Ferreira in the first round.  He looked sharp and impressive as he outstruck his foe en route to the win.

The sole heavyweight fight on the card saw Timothy Johnson ground and pound his way to victory against Dagestani native Shamil Abdurahimov.

Performance of the Night: Chad Mendes, Dustin Poirier, Juliana Pena, and Timothy Johnson

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About the author
Karim Zidan
Karim Zidan

Karim Zidan is a investigative reporter and feature writer focusing on the intersection of sports and politics. He has written for BloodyElbow since 2014 and has served as an associate editor since 2016. He also writes for The New York Times and The Guardian. Karim has been invited to speak about his work at numerous universities, including Princeton, and was a panelist at the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival and the Oslo Freedom Forum. He also participated in the United Nations counter-terrorism conference in 2021. His reporting on Ramzan Kadyrov’s involvement in MMA, much of which was done for Bloody Elbow, has led to numerous award nominations, and was the basis of an award-winning HBO Real Sports documentary.

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