Why UFC 160's Dennis Bermudez doesn't want a 'Fight of the Night' bonus

Dennis Bermudez has won three straight UFC fights, picked up two fight-night bonuses in the process, and is moving closer to title contention, but one thing he doesn’t want at Saturday’s UFC 160 event is a “Fight of the Night” bonus.

Bermudez (10-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC) meets fellow featherweight Max Holloway (7-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Their preliminary-card bout airs on FX prior to the night’s pay-per-view main card.

For Bermudez, it could be a final performance before a promotion to main cards and a spot in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie.com MMA featherweight rankings. At the very least, a victory would assure he gets a proven, top 10 opponent in his next fight.

That’s why he doesn’t want his fight against the surging Holloway to resemble his recent one against Matt Grice, which Bermudez won via split decision. He got a $50,000 “Fight of the Night” bonus for the effort, but it came at a price.

“Directly after the fight, I was talking to my corners and my coach, and they said, ‘Fight (of the) Night’ bonuses are great and all, but it means you got a lumped up a little bit,’” he told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). “And a lot of times, you see guys like Jon Jones and Anderson Silva. Those guys aren’t getting ‘Fight of the Night.’ They’re getting ‘Submission of the Night’ and ‘Knockout of the Night.’ So I’m trying to get more on those levels of performances.”

Bermudez, a former NCAA Division I wrestler who entered the UFC after a runner-up finish on “The Ultimate Fighter 14,” survived two knockdowns before rallying to defeat Grice. He got a standing ovation, but he also got a wakeup call: With the UFC’s featherweight division becoming increasingly competitive, and with contenders emerging from nearly every card, he needs to win – and win convincingly.

“I want to make it look almost as effortless as possible,” said Bermudez, who posted dominant wins over Pablo Garza and Tommy Hayden before the Grice victory. “My hat’s off to guys like Jon Jones and ‘Spider’ Silva. It almost looks like they’re not even trying.

“When I’m competing, it’s just kind of (wanting to) make the other guy look dumb, almost like they’re not on the same level as me. That drives me to improve my training and always try to get better.”

Bermudez, 26, believes his best fighting years are still ahead of him. He fought just twice in 2012, but he said he likes to have extra time in his fight camps to work on improvements rather than simple maintenance. However, UFC 160 marks his second fight in three months.

Bermudez said it was simply too good of an opportunity to make some waves in the 145-pound division.

“I’m on a good winning streak, and so is Max,” he said. “With the UFC, I think it was, ‘Who’s our guy? Who are we going to put in there with the top 10?’ But I know that’s me.”

For the latest on UFC 160, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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