UFC Fight Night 103 Bonuses: Rodriguez, Oleynik, Mendes, Saenz Pocket $50K

Yair Rodriguez, Alexey Oleynik, Augusto Mendes and Frankie Saenz all received $50,000 bonuses for their work at UFC Fight Night 103at Talking Stick Arena in Phoenix on Sunday night.

Rodriguez earned a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” paycheck for his decimation of B.J. Penn in the evening’s main event. The Mexican featherweight kept Penn off balance with a multi-faceted arsenal during a lopsided first round before dropping his foe with a front kick and a right hand early in round two. From there, “Pantera” polished off his foe with a flurry of ground-and-pound to bring an end to the contest 24 seconds into the stanza.

Meanwhile, Oleynik received a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award by making a little bit of history against Viktor Pesta in a preliminary heavyweight clash. With Pesta in full mount, Oleynik secured the first ezekiel choke submission in UFC competition, forcing the tapout from his back 2:57 into the opening stanza.

Finally, Augusto Mendes and Frankie Saenz garnered “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their preliminary bantamweight duel. Mendes staggered his foe with clean punches on multiple occasions, while Saenz floored the Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace with an elbow in the second stanza. Ultimately, it was Mendes who emerged with a split-decision triumph.