ONE 159 performance bonuses: Who made bank?

ONE 159 is officially in the books. The event brought a series of spectacular fights and jaw-dropping finishes that earned some of the evening’s combatants a stack of cash in the form of a $50,000 performance bonus.

Earning the first bonus of ONE 159 was Sinsamut Klinmee. In the third fight of the night, Klinmee scored a highlight-reel knockout against Liam Nolan five seconds into the second round. Nolan threw a left body kick that was immediately countered by a crushing left that landed clean to the chin, knocking the British striker to the canvas. Unable to answer the referee’s count, the fight was stopped.

It was Klinmee’s second straight second-round knockout. The first came against Nicky Holzken at ONE X in March. That night, Klinmee also pocketed a $50,000 bonus.

The second $50,000 bonus of the night went to ‘Mini T’ Danial Williams for his first-round knockout of Zelang Zhaxi in the main card opener. At 4:20 into the first round, Williams landed a massive right hand that put Zhaxi on wobbly legs and eventually down to the mat. Clearly out of it, the referee immediately called for the stoppage.

It was Williams’ third straight mixed martial arts victory and his second knockout inside the circle. Following the win, ‘Mini T’ called for a shot at newly crowned ONE strawweight Muay Thai world champion, ‘The Hurricane’ Joseph Lasiri.

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Reinier de Ridder earns his 16th win and a $50,000 bonus at ONE 159

Reinier de Ridder added another incredible victory to his resume at ONE 159, defeating the Russian juggernaut Vitaly Bigdash with an inverted triangle choke in the first round.

Early in the contest, Bigdash appeared to have a tight guillotine locked in on De Ridder, but ‘The Dutch Knight’ remained calm and worked his way out of the position. From there, it was just a matter of time. Bigdash managed to reverse position from the bottom while defending an armbar, but left himself open to the triangle, giving De Ridder his 11th career submission victory.

Following the impressive first-round submission, Reinier de Ridder spoke with Mitch Chilson about what comes next for the two-division world champion:

“I’m done asking Mitch. You know what’s next.”

When Chilson asked if he wanted reigning heavyweight world champion Arjan Bhullar or the current interim heavyweight titleholder Anatoly Malykhin, ‘The Dutch Knight’ said:

“I want them both in the same night.”

Chilson was in no position to grant ‘The Dutch Knight’ a heavyweight title shot, but he did announce that the Breda native had been awarded a $50,000 bonus for his dominant performance in the ONE 159 main event.