UFC Fight Night 26: Predicting the Fight Night Bonuses

The UFC's much talked about, highly anticipated Fox Sports 1 debut is very, very near.

The date: Saturday, August 17. The card: UFC Fight Night 26. The venue: the TD Garden. The channel....Fox Sports 1.

Here is an overview of the UFC Fight Night 26 card:

Fox Sports 1 Main Card

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Chael Sonnen
Alistair Overeem vs. Travis Browne
Urijah Faber vs. Yuri Alcantara
Matt Brown vs. Mike Pyle
Uriah Hall vs. John Howard
Joe Lauzon vs. Michael Johnson

Fox Sports 1 Prelims

Brad Pickett vs. Michael McDonald
Conor McGregor vs. Max Holloway
Mike Brown vs. Steven Siler
Diego Brandao vs. Daniel Pineda

Facebook Prelims

Manny Gamburyan vs. Cole Miller
Cody Donovan vs. Ovince St. Preux
Ramsey Nijem vs. James Vick

Here we take a look at which fights and fighters carry the strongest chance to pocket some bonus cash. We'll examine the top candidates for each fight night award, and I'll provide a prediction for each.

Read on to see the picks.

Knockout of the Night

Top Candidates

Matt Brown: If he can take out Mike Pyle, it will probably be by knockout.

Travis Browne: Alistair Overeem is very average after Round 1. If the action goes longer than a single frame, Browne could turn his lights out.

Uriah Hall: John Howard is tough to knockout, but maybe the Hall of TUF dominance will show up and do it.

Michael McDonald: Brad Pickett is anything but easy to knockout, yet McDonald has a real chance.

Alistair Overeem: Browne will probably strike with him for a time, so the chance is there.

Ovince St-Preux: His first UFC win wasn't pretty, but perhaps this time around...

Prediction: Ovince St-Preux

St-Preux was able to win in his UFC debut, but he didn't look all that impressive. At UFC Fight Night 26, against Cody Donovan, I think it comes together for him and he is able to generate his first UFC highlight.

There will be a lot of competition for this award on Saturday, with any number of candidates carrying a very real chance of taking home the extra dough, but this is a great stylistic matchup for St-Preux.

He'll set the mark early on the prelims and no-one will be able to catch up.

Submission of the Night

Top Candidates

Diego Brandao: Daniel Pineda struggles with submission defense. Point, Brandao.

Urijah Faber: It isn't a title fight so there's no reason to think Faber can't pull it off, right?

Joe Lauzon: He's very dangerous on the mat and opponent Michael Johnson has a bad history there.

Mike Pyle: He'll either be knocked out or win via submission. That's almost seems guaranteed.

Mauricio Rua: Chael Sonnen will be looking for the takedown, but Shogun could make that a mixed blessing for him.

Prediction: Joe Lauzon

My gut instinct is to go Brandao here, but Lauzon has such a knack for collecting fight night cheques that I can't bet against him. Especially since his strong suit is submissions, which happens to be an area of deficiency for his opponent.

Should he make good on this prediction, Lauzon will take sole possession of first on the all-time list of UFC bonus winners.

Looking at the field he's up against, he'll have his work cut out for him, but ultimately, I think he pulls it off.

Fight of the Night

Top Candidates

Yuri Alcantara vs. Urijah Faber: Can the Brazilian keep it competitive enough to make this one a thrill?

Matt Brown vs. Mike Pyle: Awesome pairing, but the potential for a quick finish hurts its chances.

Uriah Hall vs. John Howard: This could be a very fun striking affair.

Michael Johnson vs. Joe Lauzon: If anyone can double up on fight night bonuses, it's Lauzon.

Max Holloway vs. Conor McGregor: See above.

Michael McDonald vs. Brad Pickett: See above. Again.

Prediction: Michael McDonald vs. Brad Pickett

McDonald is a terrific striker and really becomes exciting when he is paired up with an aggressive opponent. Pickett is just that, and the combination spells action any way you look at it.

I suspect Pickett will make attempts to score some takedowns, but moving the competition to the mat won't necessarily stifle the excitement. The Brit is very active on the ground, while McDonald isn't likely to be pinned down for too long at a time.

There are a few potential barn-burners on this card. McDonald vs. Pickett will prove the barn-burniest.