UFC 142 Bonuses: Edson Barboza Takes Two $65,000 Post-Fight Awards

Edson Barboza knocks out Terry Etim (Josh Hedges/UFC)

Barboza, Etim, Palhares win bonuses in Brazil

After another historic card in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, three fighters took home post-fight bonus awards for their performances at UFC 142 – and one of them gets to double up.

Edson Barboza, Terry Etim and Rousimar Palhares won the fight night $65,000 bonus checks handed out by the UFC on Saturday, and Barboza was a rare double recipient. Barboza and Etim took home Fight of the Night for their pay-per-view opener, and Barboza also won Knockout of the Night for his spinning wheel kick that stopped Etim in the third round. And Palhares won for Submission of the Night. The UFC announced the winners prior to Saturday’s post-fight press conference at the HSBC Arena in Rio.

Barboza’s kick likely will go down as one of the greatest knockouts in the history of mixed martial arts. Barboza had tried a spinning wheel kick in another fight – and just missed. But in the third round against Etim, it was perfect. He caught Etim cleanly on his jaw with his heel, knocking the Brit out instantly. And it was going to take something very special to upstage it for Knockout of the Night.

Even though featherweight champion Jose Aldo actually did deliver that something special in the main event, getting a knockout of Chad Mendes with just one second left in the first round, Barboza held on and took the bonus.

“In a fight, you try things and hope they work,” Barboza said. “Tonight, (the kick) worked. It’s something I’ve practiced a lot and I finally was able to land it hard. I’m happy with this outcome, and you can expect more of that soon.”

Barboza remains unbeaten at 10-0 and improves to 4-0 in the UFC – with three straight bonus awards. His decision wins over Anthony Njokuani and Ross Pearson both won Fight of the Night honors for him in 2011.

Palhares continued his recent string of domination, improving to 14-3 and 7-2 in the UFC – with his only losses coming to Dan Henderson and Nate Marquardt. Palhares worked quickly against Mike Massenzio, taking him down, securing a leg and quickly forcing the American to tap to a heel hook. It was the sixth heel hook victory of his career and the 10th of his 14 wins by submission. The Despite five submission wins in his UFC career, it was his first Submission of the Night win since his promotional debut at UFC 84 in May 2008.