UFC on ESPN+ 34 Bonus Report: Ovince Saint Preux wins $50,000 for walk-off KO over Alonzo Menifield

UFC light heavyweight Ovince Saint Preux was among four fighters who won $50,000 bonuses following Saturday night’s UFC on ESPN+ 34 event.

The UFC announced the traditional post-fight bonuses following the event. Winning bonuses were Saint Preux for his second-round KO over Alonzo Menifield in the co-main event; welterweight Michel Pereira for his third-round submission win over Zelim Imadaev; middleweight Andre Muniz for his first-round armbar submission of Bartosz Fabinski; and featherweight Brian Kelleher for his quick guillotine choke over Ray Rodriguez.

Saint Preux was a lock for a bonus award from the UFC after he scored a walk-off KO over Menifield, a highly-touted light heavyweight prospect, in the co-main event. OSP recently tested positive for COVID-19 and this fight was delayed two weeks, but in the end, OSP was healthy and he showed it with a brilliant victory in this fight. Muniz and Kelleher were also locks to win bonuses for their quick first-round submission wins. It’s worth noting that Kelleher did the UFC a solid by fighting Rodriguez, who took the fight on very short notice.

Pereira also had a terrific performance and after losing a bonus for his fight against Tristan Connelly last year in Vancouver, he really could use this one. But his submission win was controversial, and when you consider there was a finish in the main event, some may point to Pereira as the one fighter who maybe could have been passed over for a bonus.

That’s because heavyweight contender Alistair Overeem was not rewarded a $50,000 bonus for his fifth-round TKO win over Augusto Sakai, with the UFC instead choosing to hand out the bonuses to undercard fighters instead. Overeem certainly was in the conversation for a bonus, but considering he is by far the highest-paid fighter on the whole card, the UFC likely felt the other fighters who got the bonuses needed the money more.

Do you think the UFC got the bonuses right for this event or was Alistair Overeem snubbed?