Just when you thought Saturday night couldn’t get any better for Israel Adesanya, “The Last Stylebender” pocketed a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for his championship victory over Robert Whittaker at UFC 243.
Adesanya unified the middleweight belts with a second-round technical knockout of Whittaker iin the main event at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne. A counter left hook sent “The Reaper” tumbling to his seat, and the City Kickboxing representative finished his defenseless foe with follow-up punches at the 3:33 mark of the period.
Elsewhere, Octagon debutante Yorgan De Castro captured the evening’s other $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check for a first-round knockout of Justin Tafa in a featured heavyweight clash.