UFC Post-Fight Bonuses for the Best of July

July was an interesting month for the UFC. Remember when Anderson Silva was taunting Chris Weidman, and Weidman knocked him out and won? That was awesome.

And there was other stuff, too. Time to relive it all one more time as we pass out our UFC post-fight bonuses for the month that was.

For the uninitiated, my bonuses are exactly like those of the UFC, except they cover the entire month and don't offer a "reward" in the traditional financial sense, but rather in the slideshow slide sense. That and 10 bucks gets you a very, very nice sandwich somewhere.

So without further ado, here are my selections for UFC knockout, submission and fight of the month. In addition to these staples, I've been known to throw in some random bonus bonuses. Did I do that this month? Read on, why don't you. And if you're interested, check out the June bonuses here.

Knockout of the Month: Melvin Guillard

There were some strong candidates this month. Robbie Lawler's face-kick finish of Bobby Voelker comes to mind, as does Edson Barboza's leg-kick TKO on Rafaello Oliveira, Cub Swanson's stoppage of Dennis Siver and, right, that Weidman dude.

But I'm giving this to Melvin Guillard. And I'm not taking the easy way out this time by giving it to more than one person. Knockouts that steal the consciousness or even temporarily the dignity of the other fighter are not infrequent. But it's rare you see a guy use his fist to impinge on another guy's fighting soul. Those hammerfists didn't just turn off Mac Danzig's lights. They broke his spirit.

Upon recovering, Danzig looked about as beaten as it's possible for a man to look. It was a sad sight for a solid fighter and a seemingly solid guy with a lot of cool interests outside of fighting and a longer future in combat sports if he wants it (even if it's not in the UFC).

But that's the game, and at UFC on Fox 8, Melvin Guillard was a stone-cold player.

Submission of the Month: Demetrious Johnson

Demetrious Johnson's armbar submission wasn't noteworthy for its joint-popping brutality or Mundial-level slickness. It was noteworthy because the flyweight champion, with the fight in the bag, eschewed the easier street for another shot at the finish. And he got it, setting a UFC record in the process for the latest submission in a professional fight.

As my colleague Hunter Homistek noted shortly after on Twitter:

"

Take notes, GSP.

— Hunter Alek Homistek (@HunterAHomistek) July 28, 2013"

Welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre is the poster boy for conservative game-planning. But he's hardly the only one, champion or otherwise. Want to see real champion material? Look to Johnson, who sold out for the big finish when he had no strategic reason to do so. He did it for himself, his company, his event, his sport and the flyweight division he leads, and which is often maligned for a lack of stoppages. 

I say good on "Mighty Mouse." Insert big-things-in-small-packages remark here.

Fight of the Month: Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva

I hope this doesn't surprise anyone too much. Settle down out there, you guys.

Maybe it wasn't the most back-and-forth affair. Maybe it wasn't the bloodiest or longest. But the sports world took notice when the GOAT clowned his way right into a corner and then a knockout loss. I had several friends asking me about it, and I don't have any friends who watch fights, at least not regularly.

That's moving the needle. And it's why new UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman and his knockout for the ages culminated the UFC fight of the month.

Xenophobe of the Month: Edson Barboza

No, it wasn't an ethnocentric rant or a video-encapsulated N-bomb. We'll save those for the other sports this month.

No, it happened thanks to aforementioned Edson Barboza. Barboza is a dynamic striker who likes to attack. But he didn't like what he saw in power wrestler Rustam Khabilov and, as such, reportedly turned down a fight with the Russian.

Why you gotta hate, Edson? 

Shut Up of the Month: Conspiracies

Whenever something doesn't go the way of the hardcore MMA fan, it must be because the fix is in. T.J. Grant was forced out of his title fight with Benson Henderson, to be replaced by Anthony Pettis, who will fight in his hometown? Must be a conspiracy.

At least that one was plausible enough to support a few Twitter jokes. But Anderson Silva's knockout as some kind of combat kabuki? Psssht. The guy, uh, lost consciousness. 

Come on, MMA fans. We're better than this. There is not a UFC black ops agent behind every dogwood tree and training injury. If our discourse reduces to shadowy bribes and false flags every time we're surprised, it's not so good for the reputation there.

Follow @ScottHarrisMMA