UFC on Fox 28 Bonuses: Stephens, Latifi, Jouban, Saunders Earn $50K Awards

Jeremy Stephens lived up to his hard-hitting reputation at UFC on Fox 28, and he was compensated accordingly for his work.

The 31-year-old garnered a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award for his second-round knockout of Josh Emmett in Saturday’s main event at the Amway Center in Orlando, Fla. “Lil Heathen” dropped his foe with a counter left hand and eventually sealed with victory with a pair of vicious elbows on the mat at the 1:35 mark of round two.

Meanwhile, Ilir Latifi earned the evening’s other $50,000 “Performance of the Night” paycheck for his first-round submission of Ovince St. Preux in a featured light heavyweight scrap. A left hook from the Swede sent St. Preux to the canvas and when “OSP” returned to his feet, Latifi rocked him with another left before securing the fight-ending guillotine choke. St. Preux went unconscious 3:48 into round one.

Elsewhere, Alan Jouban and Ben Saunders received “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their entertaining preliminary welterweight scrap. While Saunders kept the pressure on his opponent for most of the bout, it was Jouban who landed the fight’s most decisive blows. The Black House representative put an end to the contest when he made Saunders stumble with an inside leg kick before knockout his foe out cold with a follow-up straight left at the 2:38 mark of round two.