UFC 115 Bonuses: Filipovic, Condit, MacDonald, Franklin Take $85K

Mikro Filipovic File Photo: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

Ask, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, and you shall receive.

Filipovic transformed his rear-naked choke submission victory against Patrick Barry into some extra cash, as he pocketed an $85,000 bonus for “Submission of the Night” at UFC 115 “Liddell vs. Franklin” on Saturday at the General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The 35-year-old Croatian openly campaigned for the bonus after the bout.

Barry dropped the 2006 Pride Fighting Championships open weight grand prix winner twice with right hands in the first round but failed to finish. Filipovic, the left side of his face badly swollen, slowly gained a foothold in the match in the second round and picked up his pace in the third. Barry wilted under the pressure, as Filipovic felled him with a right hand to the side of his head. Filipovic transitioned to his back, sank the choke without much opposition and waited for the tapout, which came with half a minute remaining.

Meanwhile, former World Extreme Cagefighting welterweight champion Carlos Condit and Rory MacDonald banked matching $65,000 bonuses for “Fight of the Night.” Down on the scorecards, Condit stopped the previously unbeaten Canadian on third-round strikes. The end came with just seven seconds left in the bout, as Condit buried the 20-year-old with some wicked ground-and-pound.

Finally, former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin took a well-deserved $85,000 bonus for “Knockout of the Night” after he flattened hall of famer Chuck Liddell with a counter right hand 4:55 into round one of their main event. Franklin suffered a broken arm while absorbing a kick from “The Iceman” earlier in the match but stayed in the fight.