UFC 198 Bonuses: Miocic, ‘Jacare,’ Trinaldo, Medeiros Take Home $50K

Stipe Miocic has a $50,000 bonus check to go along with his shiny new heavyweight belt.

The Ohioan claimed “Performance of the Night” honors for his first-round knockout of Fabricio Werdum in the UFC 198 headliner in Curitiba, Brazil, on Saturday night. Miocic caught Werdum rushing forward and knocked the Brazilian out cold with counter right hook 2:47 into the opening round of their championship bout, giving the Strong Style Fight Team representative his sixth win in his last seven Octagon appearances.

Ronaldo Souza earned the evening’s other $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award for his opening-round TKO stoppage of Vitor Belfort in the co-main event. “Jacare” set the tone for the rout by taking Belfort down and opening a cut across the bridge of his nose with a series of elbows. “The Phenom” later returned to his feet and attempted to pull guard against Souza, which allowed the Strikeforce veteran to move to full mount and stop the contest with ground-and-pound 4:38 into round one.

Meanwhile, Francisco Trinaldo and Yancy Medeiros earned $50,000 apiece and “Fight of the Night” for their lightweight duel. Trinaldo appeared to be on the verge of a finish in the opening stanza, only to see Medeiros survive to drop him with a right hook late in the second round. The Brazilian resumed his assault in the final frame en route to winning a unanimous verdict.