UFC Vegas 71 Curtis Blaydes vs. Sergei Pavlovich delivered for the fight fans on all levels and it was the finishers who were awarded performance bonuses. There were five total finishes throughout tonight's fight card but there was only one that got the snub. That was Brady Hiestand's late come-from-behind finish of Danaa Batgerel.

That means the performance bonus winners were Montel Jackson, Christos Giagos, Bruno Silva, and Sergei Pavlovich. Each one of those is certainly deserving of a $50,000 bonus on a night where there weren't many finishes. Surprisingly enough each one of them were first-round knockouts.

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The biggest knockout of them all was when Sergei Pavlovich brutally finished Curtis Blaydes with a barrage of strikes. That was his 6th consecutive first-round knockout which is a UFC record. Blaydes came into the fight with a quite bizarre strategy to just stand and trade with arguably the heaviest hitter in the heavyweight division. This now puts Pavlovich at the top of the heap in the heavyweight division.

As for the rest of those who were given a bonus, Giagos just saved his UFC career with his first-round knockout of Ricky Glenn at UFC Vegas 71. Meanwhile, Montel Jackson is more than deserving of a ranking next to his name or a ranked opposition in his next fight. As for Silva, just like Giagos he might as well just have saved his UFC career with that big knockout of the durable Brad Tavares. What a great night of fights, up next is UFC Vegas 72 Ricky Simon vs. Yadong Song