UFC 139 Bonuses: Hendo, Rua, Wand, Le, Faber, McDonald Nab $70K

Six fighters exited UFC 139 with an extra $70,000, as Dan Henderson, Mauricio Rua, Wanderlei Silva, Cung Le, Urijah Faber and Michael McDonald all banked fight night bonuses on Saturday.

Henderson and Rua were awarded “Fight of the Night” following their epic and bloody five-round main event, as were Silva and Le for their efforts in the three-round co-headliner. Faber (Pictured, file photo) earned “Submission of the Night” for his second-round victory over Brian Bowles, while McDonald took home “Knockout of the Night” by dispatching Alex Soto in under one minute.

Two stars of the defunct Pride Fighting Championships, Henderson and Rua provided fans with an exhilarating battle at the HP Pavillion in San Jose, Calif., trading blows for the bout’s 25-minute duration. While Henderson came out strong early, dropping Rua multiple times in the first two rounds, the Brazilian would not go away, pouring punishment on a fading Henderson in the final two frames. In the end, however, Henderson had built up enough of a lead to take home a win, earning scores of 48-47 from all three judges.

Silva and Le excited fans in a back-and-forth middleweight contest. Though Le set the pace in round one with his kick-based attack, Silva gradually began to close the distance. In round two, Silva again appeared passive in the early going, until “The Axe Murderer” turned in a vintage knockout, cornering Le against the fence and punishing him with knees to the body and face. As Le hit the canvas, he dug for a single-leg but was met by a sprawl from Silva. The Brazilian reigned down a stream of hammer fists until the referee waved him off, calling an end to the contest at 4:49 of the round.

Earlier in the night, Faber used his trademark guillotine choke to end Bowles’ immediate hopes of winning another world title; the “California Kid” forced the former WEC bantamweight titleholder to tap out at 1:27 of round two. After controlling the standup in the first frame, Faber was more aggressive in the second stanza, snapping Bowles’ head back with a hard lead uppercut and swarming him with punches against the cage. Not long after, the onetime WEC 145-pound champion locked up his fight-ending guillotine, rolling on top of Bowles to tighten his squeeze and force the submission.

McDonald wasted no time in dispatching his aggressive opponent and spoiling Soto’s Octagon debut. “Mayday” caught Soto with a hard right hand that buckled his legs early in the round, and the Californian jumped on his hurt opponent, backing Soto up against the cage and knocking him unconscious with a pair of vicious uppercuts.