UFC Fight Night 33 bonuses: Rua, Silva and Hunt pick up $50,000 awards

BRISBANE, Australia – Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Mark Hunt and Antonio Silva each earned $50,000 bonuses for their performances at Friday’s UFC Fight Night 33 event.

Rua earned the “Knockout of the Night,” and Hunt and Silva picked up “Fight of the Night” honors. With no tapout finishes on the night, no Submission of the Night” award was given.

UFC officials announced the winners at the night’s post-event news conference, which MMAjunkie attended.

UFC Fight Night 33 took place at Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Australia. The main card aired on FOX Sports 1 following prelims on FOX Sports 2 and MMAjunkie.

While it looked like Takeya Mizugaki and Nam Phan would leave Australia with the evening’s “Fight of the Night” Bonus, heavyweights Silva and Hunt changed that in the night’s main event. In one of the most incredible heavyweight fights in UFC history, Silva and Hunt went toe-to-toe for 25 minutes. Each had their moments of brilliance, and each was a bloody mess, and in a result that somehow seemed most appropriate, the contest was ruled a draw. Afterward, UFC President Dana White called it the “sickest heavyweight fight ever,” and awarded each of them their win bonus as well as the evening’s “Fight of the Night” award.

There was talk of a potential retirement before Rua stepped into the cage on Saturday night, but that ended in spectacular fashion. Rua needed just 63 seconds to score a devastating knockout of James Te Huna. One crushing left hand did the trick, silencing Rua’s doubters and earning him a “Knockout of the Night” bonus.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 33, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.

(Pictured: Antonio Silva)