UFC Belgrade bonuses: Headliners pace $100K winners at record-setting show

The UFC handed out four bonuses after Saturday’s card in Serbia – a show that set new records for finishes, making the competition for six-figure checks tougher than ever before.

After UFC Fight Night 283, four fighters picked up an extra $100,000 for their performances at Belgrade Arena in Serbia. Additionally, a record eight fighters got $25,000 extra checks for finishes that weren’t bonus-winners. 

Check out the list of winners below. 

Uros Medic (14-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) needed only 30 seconds to dispatch of recent Mexican prison sentencee Daniel Rodriguez (20-6 MMA, 10-5 UFC) in the main event in front of his home fans. Although Rodriguez took him off his feet in the opening seconds with a kick, Medic bounced back up and had Rodriguez sent back to the locker room with little to no resistance after a slick hook, a knee and ground-and-pound that cut through Rodriguez like a shiv. If Rodriguez gave it up that easily while he was in prison in Mexico, well … yikes.

Navajo Stirling (11-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) stayed unbeaten and made reasonably easy work of former light hevayweight champion Jan Blachowicz (29-12-2 MMA, 12-9-2 UFC) for a TKO in less than three minutes in the co-main event. With it, Stirling said he’s ready for the kinds of opponents that could lead to a title shot.

Gilbert Urbina (8-4 MMA, 2-3 UFC) picked up one of two upsets on the card when he stayed patient through an early storm from Vlasto Cepo (14-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC). He quickly composed himself, dropped the home fan favorite, then laid on the ground-and-pound for the win. 

Nina Milosevic (9-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) had a stellar debut when she landed two straight punches to the midsection of Hailey Cowan (7-6 MMA, 0-4 UFC), who hit the canvas after the second and soon after made Milosevic $25K richer.

Robert Valentin (13-6 MMA, 2-3 UFC) won for the second straight time after an 0-3 start in the UFC and made sure the Serbian fans were quieted when he submitted Dusko Todorovic (13-7 MMA, 4-7 UFC) in the first round. After some scrambles on the canvas, Valentin capitalized when Todorovic made a miscalculation and soon after had him tapping to a guillotine choke.  

Noah Gugnon (10-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) opened up the main card with a quick win over home favorite Milos Janicic (19-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC). Gugnon hurt Janicic in both his legs with kicks, and when Janicic went to the canvas it allowed Gugnon to take advantage for a rear-naked choke just 81 seconds into the fight.

Tofiq Musayev (24-6 MMA, 2-1 UFC) got the biggest win of his career with an upset of Ludovit Klein (24-6-1 MMA, 8-4-1 UFC). The 36-year-old Musayev was the first underdog to win at UFC Belgrade when he put him away with dozens of ground-and-pound punches against the fence.

Michael Oliveira (10-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) almost certainly announced himself as the next prospect to watch in the welterweight division when he took out Oban Elliott (12-5 MMA, 3-3 UFC) with really just a couple of stiff jabs in the first round. 

Bogdan Grad (16-4 MMA, 2-2 UFC) might have gotten a slight gift with his submission of Dennis Buzukja (12-7 MMA, 1-5 UFC), who looked like he may have been just trying to push Grad’s leg away during an arm-triangle choke. But Jason Herzog saw what looked like a tap, and Grad had a second-round win and an extra check. 

Mateusz Rebecki (21-5 MMA, 5-4 UFC) took Kyle Prepolec (18-11 MMA, 0-5 UFC) down, pinned him against the cage and pounded away with nearly 150 strikes in absolute domination as an 8-1 favorite and a TKO with 19 seconds left in the first round.

Jovan Leka (15-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) gave the home fans in Serbia something to go nanners over when he drilled Alexander Poppeck (21-6 MMA, 0-1 UFC) with a perfectly placed left kick to the liver. After just a beat, Poppeck went to the canvas in agony and Leka had things done at the 2:22 mark of the opening frame.

Stephanie Luciano (8-2-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) got a little bit of an early test on the feet from promotional newcomer and home fan favorite Marina Spasic (7-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) to open the card. But once she got to the canvas into her world, she wrapped up her second straight rear-naked choke with 90 seconds left in the first round.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Belgrade bonuses: Headliners pace $100K winners at record-setting show