UFC 123 bonuses: Penn, Davis, Sotiropoulos and Lauzon earn $80,000 awards
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AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – B.J. Penn, Phil Davis, George Sotiropoulos and Joe Lauzon each earned $80,000 "Fight Night" bonuses for their performances at Saturday's "UFC 123: Rampage vs. Machida" event.
Penn earned the night's "Knockout of the Night" award, Davis picked up the "Submission of the Night" bonus, and Sotiropoulos and Lauzon shared "Fight of the Night" honors.
UFC 123 took place at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Mich. The night's main card aired on pay-per-view, while Spike TV featured a pair of preliminary card contests.
Penn stunned opponent Matt Hughes and the Michigan crowd with a rapid-fire 21-second finish. After an early flurry, Penn dropped Hughes with a right hand and wasted little time jumping on his opponent with stiff follow-up blows that forced the stoppage. Penn claimed victory in the pairs trilogy series and also earned a hefty bonus.
Davis ensured his bonus win after executing a kimura variation that left broadcasters at a lack of words. After dominating Tim Boetsch on the floor, Davis trapped his opponent's arm behind his back and cranked the hold until his opponent tapped not once, but twice after the attending referee failed to see the first submission.
In the evening's first pay-per-view fight, Sotiropoulos and Lauzon went toe-to-toe as expected. While Lauzon looked crisp on his feet early, he appeared to slow slightly in the second round. Sotirolpolous picked up the pace when the fight hit the floor in the second, and after passing on an initial kimura attempt, he latched firmly onto a second attack and forced the tap. An action-packed affair for the round-and-a-half duration, the entertaining lightweight contest was justly awarded the evening's "Fight of the Night."
