UFC 172 Bonuses: Gomi, Vallie-Flagg, Benavidez, Beal Bank $50K Awards

Takanori Gomi and Isaac Vallie-Flagg went toe-to-toe for three rounds. | Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

Gomi and Vallie-Flagg shared “Fight of the Night” honors following their hard-fought lightweight affair, while Benavidez and Beal both pocketed “Performance of the Night” bonuses for their respective finishes of Tim Elliott and Patrick Williams.

Gomi and Vallie-Flagg collided for 15 violent minutes, with Gomi winging his trademark bombs at the durable American as Vallie-Flagg effectively pushed the pace. Though the former Pride champion appeared to be winded early in the bout, he hung tough and did enough damage with his boxing to take home the unanimous decision victory.

Earlier, Beal kicked off the UFC’s debut in Baltimore with a bang, putting Williams to sleep with a violent flying knee in the first fight of the evening. Shortly thereafter, Benavidez weathered some early offense from the game Elliott before taking control of the bout, mounting his fellow flyweight and finishing him with a beautiful guillotine choke.