UFC 246 bonuses: Conor McGregor earns 10th of career

The UFC doled out an extra performance bonus for Conor McGregor’s return at UFC 246, and the Irish star banked his 10th extra check.

Five “Performance of the Night” bonuses went out for Saturday’s pay-per-view event, with McGregor, Drew Dober, Diego Ferreira, Brian Kelleher, and Aleksi Oleinik each taking home a $50,000 payday.

The former two-division champ closed out the night at T-Mobile Arena with a performance as emphatic as it was brilliant, setting in motion a TKO of Donald Cerrone with a flurry of shoulder strikes. A head kick sent the man responsible for the most head-kick knockout wins in octagon history to the canvas, and McGregor finished the job with 40 seconds on the clock.

Main card attraction Oleinik picked up his fifth bonus for a submission win over Maurice Greene. The Russian vet couldn’t finish the American with a scarf hold in the first frame, but he kept on the pressure until he found an armbar that marked his sixth UFC finish by submission.

Kelleher, a last-second addition to the pay-per-view fights, taught Dana White Contender Series vet Ode Osbourne a lesson on the mat, cinching a first-round guillotine that started the UFC newcomer off on the wrong foot.

Submission specialist Ferreira added another submission to the night against ex-champ Anthony Pettis. In his biggest win to date, he picked up his third fight-night bonus with a rear-naked choke, his second such UFC win.

And in early action, Dober starched Nasrat Haqparast in just 70 seconds to get the ESPN prelims off to an exciting start.

The announced attendance was 19,040 for a live gate of $11,089,129.30, which makes it the second-biggest MMA event in history in the state of Nevada.