UFC Fight Night 81 bonuses: Cruz, Dillashaw take home $50,000 each for title clash

T.J. Dillashaw

BOSTON – Dominick Cruz, T.J. Dillashaw, Ed Herman and Luke Sanders each earned $50,000 fight-night bonuses at Sunday’s UFC Fight Night 81 event.

Sanders (11-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and Herman (23-11 MMA, 10-8 UFC) earned “Performance of the Night” awards while Cruz (21-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) and Dillashaw (12-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) picked up “Fight of the Night” honors.

UFC President Dana White announced the winners at the post-event news conference, which MMAjunkie attended.

UFC Fight Night 81 took place at TD Garden in Boston. It aired on FOX Sports 1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

Cruz recaptured the bantamweight championship with a hard-fought split decision win over Dillashaw. The five-round battle saw Cruz return to form with his signature footwork and head movement to throw Dillashaw off in the early stages of the bout. Dillashaw came on strong in the final rounds, but couldn’t catch up with the early lead built by the new champ.

Herman blasted Tim Boetsch (18-10 MMA, 9-9 UFC) in the second round of their light heavyweight bout, earning a TKO victory in his first bout at 205 pounds.

Sanders made his octagon debut with a submission of veteran Maximo Blanco. Blanco almost scored his own submission moments prior to the finish, but Sanders was able to slip out of the arm-triangle choke and lock up his own rear-naked choke and get the tap at the 3:38 mark of Round 1.

For more on UFC Fight Night 81, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.