UFC Fight Night 102 bonuses: The Gian Villante-Saparbek Safarov war was worth $50,000

ALBANY, N.Y. – Gian Villante, Saparbek Safarov, Francis Ngannou and Gerald Meerschaert each earned $50,000 bonuses for their performances at today’s UFC Fight Night 102 event.

Villante and Safarov earned the “Fight of the Night,” while Ngannou and Meerschaert each won “Performance of the Night” honors.

Villante (15-7 MMA, 5-3 UFC) and Safarov (8-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) opened up the main card with a back-and-forth battle that seemed to take Villante a little by surprise. Safarov seemed to just keep coming and stunned the New Yorker with punches a couple times. But in the second, Villante poured it on with punches while a wiped-out Safarov covered up on the fence to get the TKO finish.

Meerschaert (25-8 MMA, 1-0 UFC) made his UFC debut a good one with a first-round submission of Joe Gigliotti (7-2 MMA, 0-2 UFC). Meerschaert had a guillotine choke on Gigliotti, then rolled it over for a perfect anaconda to get the finish – which was the first stoppage of the night after five straight decisions to open the card.

Ngannou (9-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) didn’t need much time to tap out Anthony Hamilton (15-6 MMA, 3-4 UFC) in their heavyweight co-main event. Ngannou latched on to Hamilton’s left arm and held it as they went to the floor. Quickly, Hamilton was tapping to the fight-ending kimura.

UFC officials confirmed the winners to MMAjunkie following the event, which MMAjunkie attended.

UFC Fight Night 102 took place Friday at Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. The entire card streamed on UFC Fight Pass.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 102, check out the UFC Events section of the site.