Alex Pereira may have punched his ticket to a middleweight title shot with his first-round knockout victory over Sean Strickland at UFC 276.
While that opportunity is still a little ways down the road, “Poatan” did garner a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award for his work in the Octagon at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Pereira buckled Strickland with a clean left hook, then finished off his opponent with two right hands for a stoppage at the 2:36 mark of Round 1.
Elsewhere, Bryan Barberena and Robbie Lawler received “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their entertaining welterweight slugfest.