UFC 309 Bonus Report: Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler take home FOTN

The Octagon returned to Madison Sqaure Garden for tonight’s UFC 309 event, and five fighters wound up taking home $50k bonuses.

The fight card was headlined by a heavyweight title bout featuring Jon Jones taking on former champion Stipe Miocic. The contest proved to be another dominant performance from the greatest MMA fighter of all time in Jon Jones. ‘Bones’ nearly finished Stipe Miocic in the opening round with some brutal elbows, but the former champ showcased his heart to survive the initial onslaught. While Miocic did better in round two, it was still clearly Jon’s fight to lose. Then, in round three, ‘Bones’ landed a spinning back kick that put Miocic down for good. Some follow up ground and pound was all Jones needed to end the fight.

UFC 309 was co-headlined by a highly anticipated lightweight rematch between Michael Chandler and Charles Oliveira. The pairs second meeting resulted in another absolute thriller. Charles Oliveira was able to dominate Michael Chandler in both the standup and on the ground throughout the first four rounds, but ‘Iron’ came back with an unbelievable comeback sequence in round five. Despite Chandler’s late and devastating onslaught, ‘Do Bronx’ weathered the storm and wound up taking the former Bellator champ down multiple times in the final minute to close out the fight.

Following the conclusion of tonight’s event, UFC officials announced at the post-fight press conference that five fighters would be taking home performance bonuses.

Fight of the night: Lightweight fighters Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler each pocketed $50k for their thrilling war in tonight’s UFC 309 co-main event. ‘Do Bronx’ ultimately won the contest by unanimous decision.

Performance of the night: Jon Jones earned an extra $50k for his third-round TKO victory over Stipe Miocic (see that here).

Performance of the night: Oban Elliott pocketed an extra $50k for his third-round knockout victory over Bassil Hafez (see that here).

Performance of the night: Ramiz Brahimaj took home an extra $50k for his first-round knockout victory over Mickey Gall (see that here).

Are you surprised by any of the performance bonuses handed out by Dana White and company following the conclusion of tonight’s UFC 309 event in New York City? Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!