UFC 296 post-fight bonus winners, attendance and gate information
By Jaren Kawada
As the closing act for 2023, UFC 296 more than lived up to expectations.
Though the main event did not put fans on the edge of their seats, the card still produced a Fight of the Year and Knockout of the Year candidate. Irene Aldana and Karol Rosa put on one of the best women's MMA fights of all time while Josh Emmett opened the main card with one of the scariest knockouts in the sport's history.
The night in total was an eventful one for the UFC with a brawl breaking out cage-side and Donald Trump in attendance. However, the event was a success with another sellout crowd and multiple eye-opening performances.
On the 12-fight card, six fights ended with a finish with four of them coming on the prelims. Champions Alexandre Pantoja and Leon Edwards both defended their belts while fan favorites Stephen Thompson and Tony Ferguson were unable to pull of big upsets.
Despite finishing Thompson and being the first fighter to submit the decorated karate striker, Shavkat Rakhmonov did not receive a post-fight bonus. And though many expected Alexandre Pantoja and Brandon Royval to earn the Fight of the Night, neither championship fighter received an extra paycheck either.
UFC 296 post-fight bonuses
Though many had their eyes on the co-main event for the Fight of the Night, Irene Aldana and Karol Rosa stole the spotlight on the prelims.
Aldana and Rosa undoubtedly took home the extra $50 thousand for their impressive effort as fans and fighters rained in praise on Twitter. Rosa set a UFC women's bantamweight record for the most leg kicks landed but it was ultimately Aldana who persevered and bounced back from her last title loss with a unanimous decision win.
There was much more competition for Performance of the Night, but the official bonuses would be handed out to Josh Emmett, Ariane Lipski and Shamil Gaziev. Though Emmett had the most impressive and devastating knockout of the night, Gaziev opened the card with a statement debut win over Martin Buday.
Lipski was equally as impressive with a submission over Casey O'Neill, a win that will earn her a spot in the flyweight rankings. Lipski has now won three fights in a row while handing O'Neill her second straight loss after previously being undefeated.
Somewhat surprisingly, former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt did not receive a bonus for his knockout victory of Brian Kelleher.
UFC 296 attendance
Dana White announced at the UFC 296 post-fight press conference that the T-Mobile Arena was once again sold out for the pay-per-view event. Per White's interview, the gate was 9.3 million while 19,039 were in attendance.
The UFC will be back in January 2024 with a Fight Night headlined by the Magomed Ankalaev and Johnny Walker rematch.
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