None of the bouts from UFC Fight Night 96 earned a Fight of the Night bonus.
Saturday night in Portland,Oregon, seven of twelve bouts went their full duration and were decided by judges' decision. Five fighters finished their fights via submission or knockout and four of those earned a performance bonus.
Brandon Moreno, Luis Henrique da Silva, Nate Marquardt and Curtis Blaydes all earned an extra $50,000. The only fighter to finish their opponent and not earn a bonus was Alex Oliveira who missed weight for his lightweight bout against Will Brooks.
One of the bonus winners, Brandon Moreno, was a late replacement and took the fight on two weeks notice. He defeated Louis Smolka in the first round with a guillotine choke. In a backstage interview, the flyweight from Mexico said he figures the win will put him in the top ten.
"I hope I'm the number 9 right now, I think so, I beat the number 9 so I'm the number nine right now," said Moreno.
The win was Moreno's promotional debut after being a part of Team Benavidez on The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions.
"My original plan was move around the cage with Smolka, be really smart and trade some punches with him," said Moreno.
After the fight went to the ground, Moreno said Smolka changed position and he latched onto the guillotine, a technique with which he considers himself well versed. Moreno was eliminated in the first round of The Ultimate Fighter, but the show is still airing on Fox Sports 1. The finale is set for December 3rd headlined by the coaches, flyweights Joseph Benavidez and Henry Cejudo.
Nate Marquardt picked up his bonus and a must needed win. The veteran is now 3-3 after returning to middleweight. After the fight Marquardt spoke in a media scrum about how he feels he's been getting better despite his record.
"My numbers in the gym as far as how strong, how fast, how powerful, and my cardio are all going up. All higher than they've ever been when I was in my best shape. And that along with my technique is back to where it needs to be with my coach Trevor (Wittman). He fixed a lot of my basics," said Marquardt.
Marquardt's fifth child is due in November, but he wants to take his career as far as possible.
UFC Fight Night 96 had an attendance of 6,240 people while earning $501,035 in ticket sales.
