Johny Hendricks
Johny Hendricks gets Knockout of Night bonus
LAS VEGAS – The Nate Diaz–Donald Cerrone fight was pre-ordained as Fight of the Night. On Friday, the lightweight bout lived up to its billing.
Diaz used an absolute barrage of hooks and jabs to dominate Cerrone in the boxing game in the co-main event of UFC 141 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. And in no real surprise, the bout was awarded Fight of the Night honors.
Diaz and Cerrone each received a $75,000 bonus for the bout, which Diaz won by unanimous decision. And for his 12-second upset knockout of Jon Fitch, Johny Hendricks got $75,000 for Knockout of the Night.
“You talk about what it takes to be a fighter, and (Diaz and Cerrone) are it – and they proved that tonight,” White said.
Diaz and Cerrone had bad blood leading into the fight thanks to a run-in in October. And at Wednesday’s press conference, the two engaged in a brief shoving match during a staredown after Diaz knocked Cerrone’s cowboy hat off.
But it came down to Diaz’s superior boxing. According to FightMetric, the Stockton, Calif., resident outstruck Cerrone 260-104 in the fight.
‘I’ve had a really good boxing coach for the last six or seven years – Richard Perez,” Diaz said. “And I’ve been working with him nonstop. We go to spar with people all over the Bay Area, and I worked with as many kickboxers as I can (to prepare for Cerrone).”
Hendricks, though, turned in arguably the night’s most stunning performance with his 12-second one-punch knockout of Fitch.
“I feel awesome,” Hendricks said. “What’d I tell everybody? Every interview, I said I have a left hand, and I knew if I hit him with it I could knock him out.”