UFC Fight Night 36: Recapping the Fight Night Bonuses

With 10 out of 12 bouts going to the scorecards, UFC Fight Night 36 won't be remembered as one of the better 2014 fight cards.

All seven matchups on the preliminary card were decided by the judges. However, there were a few bright spots during an event that lacked finishes.

The UFC rolled out a new bonus structure for this fight card, handing out two Performance of the Night bonuses that replaced Knockout of the Night and Submission of the Night honors. Here were the UFC Fight Night 36 winners.

Fight of the Night

Winner: Lyoto Machida vs. Gegard Mousasi

Although so many fights went the distance, not many stood out as Fight of the Night candidates.

When that is the case, headliners will have a big advantage over the rest of the field when the award is determined. Not only is their fight freshest in the minds of those who are making the decision, but their bout is intuitively the one that observers are most emotionally invested in.

Iuri Alcantara and Wilson Reis, as well as some others, could have made an argument that they should have taken the Fight of the Night bonus, but the truth is nobody really went out and claimed the award on Saturday. Machida and Mousasi were about as deserving as anybody.

Performances of the Night

Winners: Charles Oliveira and Erick Silva

Despite the name of the bonuses being changed, Knockout of the Night and Submission of the Night were still essentially utilized at UFC Fight Night 36.

In the opening bout of the main card, Oliveira picked up the only submission on Saturday, stopping Andy Ogle with a triangle choke in the third round. Two fights later, Silva recorded the only knockout at UFC Fight Night 36 by steamrolling Takenori Sato in 52 seconds.

The UFC brass could have went in another direction and given the bonuses to fighters who won in decisions, but fighters can feel pretty confident these will mostly continue to reward finishes.