Nazim Sadykhov and Nikolas Motta went to war in front of a roaring crowd at Baku Crystal Hall, and the UFC made sure they left Azerbaijan with more than just respect.
Both lightweights earned an extra $100,000 in UFC Baku bonuses after putting on a blood-and-guts showcase that stole the spotlight on a night mostly filled with decisions.
Their main card scrap didn’t last the full three rounds, but it was violent, gritty, and unforgettable. Motta came out swinging, trapping Sadykhov against the fence in Round 1 and letting his hands fly in relentless flurries. Sadykhov endured the barrage, weathered the storm, and flipped the momentum in the second, overwhelming Motta with strikes and closing the show with a TKO.
At the post-fight press conference, UFC CEO Dana White praised both men for delivering the best action of the night, confirming they’d each receive Fight of the Night honors with doubled payouts.
“This is what we want to see. These guys showed up and put everything out there,” White said. “They’re both getting $100,000. That’s all the bonus money tonight—nobody else came close.”
In a rare move, the UFC bypassed the usual structure of splitting $200,000 across four fighters. With only two finishes on the 12-fight card, all the UFC Baku bonuses went to Sadykhov and Motta.
Sadykhov now holds three Fight of the Night awards in just five UFC appearances and continues proving he’s built for chaos. Motta, despite the loss, earned his first UFC bonus and showed he can hang in the trenches with killers like Sadykhov.
The only other finish on the card came from Myktybek Orolbai, who locked in a vicious kimura submission over Tofiq Musayev in the first round. But Orolbai missed weight and competed at a 165-pound catchweight, making him ineligible for bonus consideration despite the slick finish.
