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Despite the UFC 109 broadcast pegging Randy Couture's rear naked choke over Mark Coleman as the "Submission of the Night," that honor went to Paulo Thiago for his second round D'Arce choke over Mike Swick earlier in the night.
The $60K bonuses were announced at the night's post fight press conference. In addition to Thiago's "Submission of the Night," bonuses were also handed out to Chael Sonnen, Nate Marquardt and Matt Serra.
Sonnen and Marquardt earned "Fight of the Night" honors in a fight that saw Sonnen dominate throughout much of the three round affair. Marquardt gave himself a shot in the fight on a couple of occasions, opening up a nasty cut with an elbow from the bottom and nearly completing a guillotine choke late in the third round.
Serra earned the night's "Knockout of the Night" award for his first round KO of Frank Trigg. After pegging him with body shots in the opening minutes, Serra changed levels and dropped Trigg with an overhand right. He landed a number of shots to the jaw on the ground to Trigg before the ref stopped in to end it. While Trigg protested the stoppage, replays showed it was the correct move.
Penick's Analysis:All of the bonuses were well earned tonight. In a night full of decisions, these three fights along with the main event stood out above the pack. Thiago looked awesome in dropping Swick and locking in the quick choke, Serra was great with his knockout and Sonnen fought a career best fight to a dominating decision, while also having to fend off that late submission attempt and a nasty cut early. All in all, this was an enjoyable night of fights while not the one of the UFC's better events.
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