UFC 129 was without a doubt a historic milestone for Canadian mixed martial arts fans as the first-ever UFC fight card taking place in Ontario since the sport was legalized last August. For the Ultimate Fighting Championship it was the most successful and lucrative event to date with 55,724 MMA fans from all over the world flocking to the Rogers Centre in Toronto Saturday night, which yielded an unsurpassed $12.075 million gate, according to UFC President Dana White. As a result, White bumped up the fight bonuses to an unprecented $129,000 instead of the usual $75,000 each and announced the four fight bonus winners at the post-event press conference.
Fight of the Night
UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo successfully defended his title against challenger Mark Hominick in five grueling rounds that left Hominick severely battered and bruised with a huge hematoma emerging on his right forehead. Nevertheless, Hominick finished the last round strong with a heavy dose of ground-and-pound as payback for Aldo. The effort earned him some points, but not enough to make up for Aldo's dominance in the previous rounds. When the bout went to the judges' score cards they awarded Aldo the win via unanimous decision (48-45, 48-46, 49-46). White, however, was impressed enough to reward both fighters with some extra cash in the amount of $129,000 each with the Fight of the Night bonus.
Knockout of the Night
Former UFC Lightheavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida took a page from the movie The Karate Kid to end the amazing fighting career of retiring UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture with a beatiful crane kick that not only knocked Couture out at 1:05 in round two, but also loosened one of his front teeth. At the post fight press conference Machida credited Steven Seagal with teaching him the move after expressing his respect for Couture in a very emotional post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. White awarded Machida the Knockout of the Night bonus for his grandious exit.
Submission of the Night
As first bout of the night Pablo Garza set the tone for the entire UFC 129 card with his ingenious triangle choke submission of Yves Jabouin at 4:31 in round one. Like a pitbull, Garza did not let go once he had jumped into the hold and forced Jabouin down to the floor where he tightened the choke until the French-Canadian fighter tapped out. Garza's persistence paid off as he earned an additional $129,000 with the Submission of the Night bonus on top of his much smaller fight purse for his impressive win.
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