UFC 133 Postfight Fighter Awards and Bonuses Net Evans, Ortiz, Belfort, and Ebersole $70,000

Vitor Belfort

For most UFC events, the wealth often gets spread down the line to some of the preliminary bout fighters, but not so at UFC 133 on Saturday night in Philadelphia. The main carders snagged up the available post-fight bonuses.

There were no submissions, but there was a cool $70,000 bonus awaiting four fighters from the main card.

Rashad Evans and Tito Ortiz wrapped up the Fight of the Night award following their show closing scrap. Ortiz pressed hard from the onset, but looked a step slower than Evans the entire fight.

Evans, not looking at all rusty after a lengthy layoff, was patient and waited for his moment to pounce. When that moment appeared, pounce he did.

After a couple minutes of methodical ground and pound, Evans drove a knee into Ortiz’s chest, causing him to fall over sideways. Evans laid the hammer down and finished in a TKO flurry.

Returning to the form of his younger years, belying the first-round knockout courtesy of an Anderson Silva front kick several months ago, Vitor Belfort morphed once again into the Phenom. He dropped Yoshihiro Akiyama to the mat, twice; then swarmed him, finishing his Japanese foe in a flurry of left hands.

Belfort walked away with an extra $70,000 for the Knockout of the Night bonus.

In a first, UFC president Dana White issued a “get those embarrassing shorts off of TV as quick as possible” bonus. The winner, which is no surprise to those of you that watched the fights, was Brian Ebersole. The American fighting out of Australia finished off Dennis Hallman inside of the opening five minutes, quickly vanquishing the blue Speedo-type shorts that Hallman was wearing and that left little to the imagination.

‘Nuff said.