Vinicius Oliveira doubles up on bonuses for KO

Vinicius Oliveira def. Bernardo Sopaj, UFC Fight Night 238

Vinicius Oliveira def. Bernardo Sopaj via knockout (flying knee) – Round 3, 4:41

Vinicius Oliveira (20-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) delivered one of the most violent flying knees in UFC history when he drilled the backpedaling and already hurt Bernardo Sopaj (11-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) late in the third round of their fight, which marked the UFC debut for each of them. Sopaj looked good early, but Oliveira came on in the second and third and never stopped chasing the finish until he finally got it in absolutely devastating highlight-reel fashion.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MARCH 02: (L-R) Steve Erceg of Australia punches Matt Schnell in a flyweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on March 02, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Stephen Erceg def. Matt Schnell via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 0:26

Stephen Erceg (12-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) drilled Matt Schnell (16-8 MMA, 6-6 UFC) early in the second round and put his lights out with one punch. Schnell was partially conscious after his head hit the canvas from the one-hitter quitter and had a typical “what just happened?” look on his face.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MARCH 02: (L-R) Benardo Sopaj of Albania punches Vinicius Oliveira of Brazil in a bantamweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on March 02, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Oliveira doubled up with his vicious flying knee for another $50,000 for Fight of the Night, which goes to Sopaj, as well. Sopaj took the fight on just a week’s notice, and he had early success, but then suffered a rough fate in his promotional debut. But at least he’ll get an extra $50,000 for it, which likely is several times more than his fight purse by itself.