Joe Lauzon

(There's gotta be an easier way to earn five grand. Photo courtesy of UFC.com.)

$424,000 in official salaries and bonuses were paid out to the fighters who competed at Saturday night's UFC Fight Night event in Tampa, Florida — a pittance compared to what the guys on pay-per-view cards tend to get, but when you consider that the live gate was only $428,000 it seems downright charitable. The numbers are below. Keep in mind that these figures don't include income from sponsorships or undisclosed "locker room bonuses."

Cain Velasquez: $60,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus and $30,000 “Knockout of the Night” bonus)
Joe Lauzon: $50,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus and $30,000 “Submission of the Night” bonus)
Josh Neer: $48,000 (includes $9,000 win bonus and $30,000 “Fight of the Night” bonus)
Mac Danzig: $45,000 (includes $30,000 “Fight of the Night” bonus)
Kurt Pellegrino: $32,000 (includes $16,000 win bonus)
Anthony Johnson: $26,000 (includes $13,000 win bonus)
Gleison Tibau: $26,000 (includes $13,000 win bonus)
Rich Clementi: $23,000
Dan Miller: $18,000 (includes $9,000 win bonus)
Matthew Riddle: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)

Props to MMA Scraps and MMA Linker...

(Lauzon/Stephens)

(Neer/Danzig)

(Josh, this isn't really the best time to tell your fishing stories. Photo courtesy of UFC.com)
 
Last night's UFC Fight Night show hosted 7,596 fans at the University of South Florida Sun Dome in Tampa, for an approximate gate of $428,000. A nice-sized chunk of that was re-distributed to the fighters in $30,000 end-of-night bonuses. Taking home the extra chedda were...

Fight of the Night: Josh Neer and Mac Danzig for their breakneck-paced two-round brawl, which saw the Dentist get in Mac's head with his constant taunting and eventually end the match with a triangle choke.

Submission of the Night: Headliner Joe Lauzon for locking in a brutal armbar on Jeremy Stephens at the end of the second round of their fight, seemingly motivated by the blood that had begun spurting out of his head.

Knockout of the Night: Cain Velasquez, apparently. Though his fight against Denis "The Body" Stojnic was a one-sided drubbing, the stoppage by ref Jorge Ortiz was a bit confusing to the fighters as well as the fans. Stojnic wasn't exactly "knocked out"; he was just turtled for a little too long as Velasquez pawed at him, and initially mistook the stoppage for a referee standup. Still, it was enough to get Velasquez another win, and increase his record to 5-0.

Full results from the event are after the jump.

(Photo courtesy of Combat Lifestyle.)

We’re closing in on the start time for UFC Fight Night 17, an event whose fairly mediocre lineup threatens to be hopelessly overshadowed by the tornado of MMA controversy and news.  But no matter, there are free fights on and we’re going to enjoy ourselves, dammit.

Hit refresh often and don’t bring me down with your bitching about how Jeremy Stephens isn’t a main event fighter.  He is tonight.  Think positive!

(God help the man who tries to get away with a little extra grease on this fight card.)

It’s been a while since we’ve made predictions for a fight that are so incredibly detailed and specific that they can’t possibly be accurate (or can they?), but with UFC Fight Night 17 just a day away it seems like the perfect time to a little prognosticating.  

The fighters weighed in this afternoon, so now all that’s left is to find some way of making people forget about Vaseline and Strikeforce for just a couple of hours.  Coincidentally, “Forget About Vaseline and Strikeforce” is also the title of my forthcoming tell-all memoir.  I think it’s going to do well.  I really do.

Joe Lauzon vs. Jeremy Stephens

J-Lau seems like he might be setting himself up for a fall by talking about how quick and easy this fight is going to be.  At least, that’s how it would happen if life were like sports movies.  It isn’t, though.  In real life the Bad News Bears remain a rag-tag group of losing rapscallions all season long and Coach Buttermaker ends the season as a sex offender with ten percent liver function.  Sorry, but that’s the reality, people.  Lauzon wins this with his superior jiu-jitsu, catching Stephens in a rear naked choke after mounting him and punishing him with a few bony elbows.

When Will It Happen: 3:51 of round 1.

What to Watch For: The post-fight interview, where Lauzon calls out Hermes Franca for his UG comments and picks a much tougher fight for himself in the process.