‘TUF 12 Finale’ Bonuses: 4 Fighters Pocket $30K

Phan and Garcia each earned bonuses of $30,000 after UFC officials declared their three-round featherweight affair “Fight of the Night” from Saturday’s “The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale,” which took place at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.

Using crisp boxing, Phan got the better of Garcia on the feet in the opening round, lighting his larger opponent up with accurate punches as Garcia swung wildly. The Vietnamese American twice rocked Garcia in the second, nearly ending the fight with a rear-naked choke toward the end of the frame. The close final round saw an exhausted-but-unrelenting Garcia continuing to attack, but Phan’s punches continued to find their marks as Garcia’s hands hung by his side. Nonethless, judges Adalaide Byrd and Tony Weeks scored the bout 29-28 in Garcia’s favor. The only dissenting judge, Junichiro Kamijo, saw all three rounds for Phan.

Meanwhile, another featherweight, Pablo Garza, scored the only knockout of the evening, making him a shoo-in for the $30,000 “Knockout of the Night” bonus. The “Scarecrow” needed less than a minute to separate opponent Fredson Paixao from consciousness, landing a brutal flying knee at the 51-second mark which left Paixao prostrate on the canvas. After several tense minutes, a still-wobbly Paixao would leave the cage under his own power.

Lastly, the $30,000 “Submission of the Night” bonus went to “TUF 12” contestant Cody McKenzie, who used his signature guillotine choke to force a tap from cast-mate Aaron Wilkinson just two minutes into their lightweight bout.