Lavar Johnson, Nate Diaz, Louis Gaudinot and John Lineker each earned $65,000 bonuses for their performances at tonight's UFC on FOX 3 event.

Johnson earned the night's "Knockout of the Night" bonus, Diaz picked up the "Submission of the Night" award, and Gaudinot and Lineker took home "Fight of the Night" honors.

UFC president Dana White announced the winners following the event.

UFC 145 took place at IZOD Center in East Rutherford, N.J. The event's main card aired on pay-per-view, and the prelims aired on FUEL TV and streamed on Facebook.

Johnson kicked off the evening's main card with a first-round TKO of Pat Barry. Johnson found himself in trouble early, with Barry in side control and looking to score with a keylock. However, Johnson escaped back to his feet and unleashed a furious flurry of uppercuts and hooks, earning a first-round TKO and the extra check.

Diaz earned his bonus pay by becoming the first man to ever stop Jim Miller. After outboxing Miller on the feet, Diaz clinched up and brought the fight to the floor with a guillotine choke. While it wasn't initially in tight, and adjustment and roll earned Diaz the submission win and the honor.

Meanwhile, Gaudinot and Lineker for a rousing flyweight affair, going toe-to-toe from the opening bell with a firefight in the pocket. It was Lineker who looked to be ahead in the early going, digging to the body and landing power shots to the head, as well. However, in the closing seconds it was Gaudinot who jumped to the back and locked in the rear-naked choke, eventually rendering Lineker unconscious.

It looked momentarily like Lavar Johnson (17-5 MMA, 2-0 UFC) might be forced to tap.

Trapped on his back in a UFC on FOX 3 main-card tilt with Pat Barry (7-5 MMA, 4-5 UFC), Johnson was out of his element and looked to be in trouble.

Not even close, said Johnson. Fighting in front of a national TV audience, Johnson wasn't going out like that, plain and simple.

"He had it in pretty tight a couple of times," Johnson admitted. "Shawn Jordan submitted me like that. I was not trying to go out again like that on the FOX card in front of everybody. The whole world is watching.

"He was going to have to break it or something. I wasn't going to give up that easily."

It was a bit of a surprise for many observers that the two were on the ground in the first place. After all, as vaunted heavyweight strikers, most assumed the two sluggers were going to stand and bang until one of them dropped.

Johnson wasn't shocked at all.

"I knew Pat has been training a lot on the ground," Johnson said. "As soon as I hit him, and I hit him with a few hard shots, then I knew that was going to happen. I was just surprised he got me down so easy. Eventually I got up."

Indeed, he did. And he made the most of the opportunity, unleashing a barrage of massive hooks and uppercuts that trapped Barry against the fence and eventually sent him crumpling to the floor.

The end came with just 22 seconds left in the opening round. Johnson admits the rapid-fire flurry was an energy dump. However, if Barry was trying to simply let Johnson punch himself out, the slugger contends that was a bad idea.

"I got tired a little bit," Johnson said. "I kept waiting for him to counter, and he would just pause. He stayed there, so I had to just keep swinging.

"I knew there was only a little bit of time, so I wasn't worried about gassing out because I have good cardio. I was going to recover in the minute between rounds, so I would have been ready to go again."

Johnson, who transferred from Strikeforce to the UFC on a two-fight losing streak, now has back-to-back first-round knockouts in the octagon. He was issued an indefinite medical suspension by the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board pending results of an X-ray of left hand, but Johnson insists he won't be out for an extended period of time.

"I hit him with a lot of hooks, and he has a hard head," Johnson deadpanned to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "So it's just swollen up a little bit, but I think everything is fine."

As for what lies ahead, it's anybody's guess. Johnson's wrestling still leaves something to be desired and would likely cause him issues against some of the top fighters in the division, but more crowd-pleasing matchups with strikers like Travis Browne, Cheick Kongo or Mark Hunt could very well be in his future.

Johnson has admitted his ultimate goal is the title shot, but for now, he's just satisfied with the biggest win of his career.

"I felt good about my performance," Johnson said. "Pat's a good guy, very talented athlete. I'm just happy to compete against him."

On a fight card filled with title implications, Alan Belcher (18-6 MMA, 9-4 UFC) believes he should be in line for a belt.

"I feel like I'm the best in the division, and there's no road too fast to the title," he said following a TKO win over Rousimar Palhares (14-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) at UFC on FOX 3. "So whatever happens, let's do it."

UFC president Dana White might not be ready to roll out the red carpet on a title shot, but he believes Belcher took a huge step forward.

"The kid came out and performed incredibly, and it definitely puts him in the top-five in that weight class," White said at the event's post-fight press conference.

UFC on FOX 3 took place on Saturday, at IZOD Center in East Rutherford, N.J. Its main card aired live on FOX while preliminary-card fights went to FUEL TV and Facebook.

Eight months ago, Belcher had just returned after an eye injury endangered his career and was simply happy to be back in the cage. Now, he's on the short list for a shot at middleweight champ Anderson Silva's title.

Minutes before he pounded Palhares out, however, White – along with probably half the audience – was ready to write him off. Palhares powered him to the mat early and was soon working for a devastating leglock. Belcher, though, managed to wriggle free.

"I knew for a fact when that fight went to the ground, it was over, meaning the other way," White said. "I thought [Belcher] was going to get submitted, especially when he was in that kneebar deep.

"Not only did he pull out of it, but when he stayed in [Palhares'] guard, I was like, 'What is he doing? Why is he staying in his guard?'"

Belcher admitted that wasn't exactly part of the plan.

"My gameplan was to stay out of a grappling situation, just to be totally safe," he said. "I dreamed about it a little bit, about submitting him, and shocking everyone like that. But that was just a dream."

In fact, being on the mat with Palhares would be considered a nightmare for most. But Belcher said his training kicked in from the moment the action went south.

"As soon as he got in deep, I just turned the corner and took his back," he said. "I did the best with what was given to me. I messed up a little bit and had to defend he leglocks, but I was never in trouble."

In banking so heavily on submissions, Palhares exposed himself to strikes when Belcher was able to evade him. A flurry of elbows and punches from Belcher rained down on him from guard and dazed him enough to prompt a referee stoppage late in the first frame.

Prior to Saturday's setback, Palhares had only fallen short to the likes of Dan Henderson and Nate Marquardt. It was just his third loss in 10 octagon appearances.

Belcher said he brought in several submission specialists, including UFC vet Dean Lister, to put him through his paces on the mat.

"All those positions are stuff that they tapped me out so many times in the first week, and after that, they couldn't get me any more," Belcher said. "I was just really prepared."

With four straight wins inside the octagon, Belcher brings a good case for a marquee fight in his next booking.

Title shot? Maybe that's a bit premature, but it's full steam ahead for "The Talent."

"I didn't feel like I had anything to prove, but I did feel like I proved something," Belcher said. "Some people had to eat their words."

Nate Diaz isn't the only one who's willing to wait for a title shot following UFC on FOX 3.

Johny Hendricks (13-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC), who added a second big name to his list of wins by outpointing Josh Koscheck (17-6 MMA, 15-6 UFC) in the evening's co-main event, said he wants the bigger payoff with a shot at the welterweight belt.

"If somebody says, 'In January, I'll give you a million dollars. Or, you could fight in four months, and make $35,000,'" Hendricks told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "Which one would you take?"

Hendricks said his choice would be to welcome the winner of an upcoming title unification bout between undisputed champ Georges St-Pierre, who's on the mend from a knee injury, and Carlos Condit, who defeated Nick Diaz for the interim title.

Of course, the timing of that bout is up in the air. St-Pierre said he'll be back in November, but there's no guarantee he'll be healed by then. Even if he is, it could be well into 2013 before Hendricks gets to fight, and an upcoming welterweight bout between Jake Ellenberger and Martin Kampmann also carries title implications.

"That's a long time," said UFC president Dana White.

While Hendricks wants to wait, he won't commit to anything until he meets with the UFC.

"It's got to be a mutual agreement," he said. "I don't bite the hand that feeds me, and Dana is definitely that, and I don't want to make him mad at any point."

But he made it clear that he's perfectly content to go back to the gym and work on his skills. He wasn't entirely happy with his performance against Koscheck.

"I didn't do my best," Hendricks said. "That's eating at me. I knew he was going to be a tough fighter."

The two went toe-to-toe for much of the fight and traded takedowns. Koscheck was more effective in keeping Hendricks down, but ate some hard shots that wobbled him.

The fight was made even tougher for Hendricks, a two-time NCAA wrestling champ, by the circumstances he fought through. He said Koscheck poked him in the eye early in the first round, and instantly he saw double, a sensation he called "scary as hell."

Scarier, still, because he felt he couldn't do anything about it. Hendricks said he was instructed by referee Kevin Mulhall before the fight to keep going if an accidental eye poke occurred.

"I said, 'If he pokes me in the eye, what are you doing to do?' He said, 'I can't stop it,'" Hendricks said. "'You don't get a five-minute break, and you can't say you can't see, or the fights going to be over.'"

So Hendricks bit down on his mouthpiece and tried to punch when he felt punches coming at him. A takedown cost him points at the end of the third and final frame, but when scorecards were read, two judges gave him the fight, 29-28.

The UFC might offer a sweeter deal to get back into action before a title shot. But Hendricks said that's a conversation for later.

"After I heal, we're going to sit down and discuss these things," Hendricks said. "But for right now, I really want a shot at that belt. At least an attempt to bring it home."

White isn't opposed to the idea following Hendrick's performance.

"Josh Koscheck is a fighter, man," he said. "This kid comes and tries to finish you. He'll fight anybody, anywhere, anytime. Hendricks looked great tonight against a fighter who I have a lot of respect for.

"If you look at Koscheck's wrestling, too, Koscheck had a hard time not getting taken down by Hendricks and taking Hendricks down. Josh Koscheck, because he gets booed, might not get the respect he deserves. He's a great fighter and has been for a long time, and Johny Hendricks won tonight. Whether you agree with the decision or not – because some people think Koscheck won or it should have been a draw – it was that close. So I think a fight between Hendricks and GSP is pretty interesting."

Hendricks gave a slight edge to St-Pierre in the upcoming title unification bout and expressed confidence in a potential matchup with the long-reigning champ.

"I believe that I can do [what I did to Koscheck] to GSP," he said.

Nate Diaz is your next lightweight No. 1 contender.

UFC president Dana White confirmed at Saturday night's UFC on FOX 3 post-event press conference that Diaz did indeed earn a shot at the 155-pound title with his win over Jim Miller.

And while there were reports that Anthony Pettis might still stand in Diaz's path to a title shot, White said Diaz was offered and agreed to stay on the sidelines until he can face the winner of Benson Henderson vs. Frankie Edgar II, which takes place later this year.

"I'm just going to wait it out and see what happens," Diaz said at the press conference.

White first promised Diaz a title shot during a conference call this past Wednesday. However at a pre-event press conference the following day, he put a little doubt on the potential when he admitted he didn't realize how long of a layoff that would mean for Diaz, with Henderson and Edgar tentatively scheduled to fight in August.

However Diaz, who in the evening's main event became the first fighter to ever earn a stoppage win over Miller, said he's unconcerned with the layoff. Championship bids don't come easily, and he recognizes the importance of cashing in on that ticket.

"I'm down for whatever," Diaz said. "Whatever they say, but [waiting] sounds great to me."

Following a brief stint at 170 pounds, Diaz returned to his more natural weightclass of 155 pounds. He's since earned three scintillating wins over Miller, Donald Cerrone and Takanori Gomi.

Young Brazilian featherweight John Lineker's UFC debut had the potential to be a major flop.

And though the Brazilian flyweight suffered a loss at Saturday's UFC on FOX 3 event after failing to make weight a day prior, he's nonetheless going home happy.

A $65,000 "Fight of the Night" bonus has a way of putting things into perspective, he told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com)

Lineker put together a 13-fight win streak over the past couple years to earn a UFC contract. But at UFC on FOX 3, which took place May 5 at IZOD Center in East Rutherford, N.J., he made his long-awaited U.S. debut.

When Lineker failed to make weight – he weighed 127 pounds, and the doctor wouldn't allow him to try to shed the final pound due to health concerns – speculation ran wild. Other fighters and managers on scene suggested Lineker came to the U.S. less than prepared and little support staff.

But Lineker, who entered the week as a nearly three-to-one underdog, said his body simply shut down.

As a fine, Lineker surrendered $1,200 to opponent Louis Gaudinot, who ultimately earned a second-round submission victory in an FX-televised preliminary-card bout. Lineker, though, kept the fight competitive, and some frantic and entertaining exchanges brought an otherwise-miserable crowd to its feet for their fight.

Lineker (19-6 MMA, 0-1 UFC) and Gaudinot (6-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) ultimately earned $65,000 "Fight of the Night" bonuses for their performance. Because Lineker missed weight, many fans felt he wasn't eligible for a fight-night bonus. But UFC officials sometimes make exceptions – as they did at UFC 108, where Paul Daley picked up a "KO of the Night" award despite missing weight for his fight with Dustin Hazelett.

Lineker, who received a measly $6,000 purse for the fight, had been sent to the hospital as a precaution when he got word of his bonus, which increased his nightly pay by a factor of 10.

"God helped me a lot in this regard," he said. "I lost my fight. My fight purse wasn't very big, but I didn't complain. I was very happy for how the fight played out [despite] not knowing I would win a 'Fight of the Night' bonus.

"When I got back to the hotel, I received a phone call and was told by (UFC matchmaker) Sean (Shelby) that I won the bonus. I was so surprised. It was better than winning the lottery. I didn't expect it. I was in the hospital when they decided the bonuses."

In fact, Lineker said he still wouldn't have known he won the bonus were it not for veteran MMA manager Alex Davis, who doesn't rep the fighter. But seeing Lineker struggle to find his footing during his first U.S. fight, Davis took him under his wing and helped him out.

"Alex Davis helped translate everything so I would understand," he said. "Alex gave 100 percent of his support. He called all the time to check on me. He took me everywhere I needed to go."

So now, Lineker returns to Brazil with some money in his pockets, a performance that won over UFC officials, and a pretty solid guarantee that he'll get a second shot at a first UFC win.

For a fighter who couldn't have been much lower after Friday's weigh-ins and Saturday's loss, it's been a remarkable turnaround.

"I was told I could be fighting again in four months," he said. "It wasn't for sure (if I'd get a second UFC fight), but considering that they were happy with my performance, I'm sure that will happen. I'm in good shape, so I'm not stressing.

"I apologize for not winning, but as everyone saw, I gave my all. I engaged in full combat with no fear. ... I want thank the people who helped me, who root for me, who like my work. I'm very happy and wish to return as soon as possible to give yet another show for the audience."

The Brazilian John Lineker was defeated by Louis Gaudinot in the UFC last Saturday, on the United States, but the moments before the fight might have influenced his loss. Who affirms this was Alex Davis, who followed the previous days of the rooster weight fight on the United States, even though he is not the athlete’s manager.



“UFC guys were very worried because he was there all alone. I always had this policy of helping out any Brazilians, independently of who his manager is. I did everything he needed me to do for him. We helped him to train, to warm-up, we went shopping with him, so… We did everything he needed as if he was our athlete”, explains Alex.



“He couldn’t speak English, people couldn’t communicate with him… These things stressed him out, so he had to face something bigger than his opponent”, completes.



Liniker’s manager, Wallid Ismail said to the website MMA Brazil that he couldn’t go to the United States with the fighter because of visa problems, and the athlete had to cut weight all by himself and he actually didn’t make it to the division limit.



“I don’t know what happened, but it worries me a lot. We did what was right and necessary, but he had some difficulties on cutting weight because he was by himself. We had our own appointments with Rousimar”, says Alex, revealing that Lineker almost didn’t get the bonus for the best fight of the night.



“I heard that, in case he got the bonus, they wouldn’t pay him because he didn’t make it to the division limit. I thought it was unfair because of everything he’s been through, and so I talked to Joe Silva. He did a beautiful fight and they end up paying him and it was actually the first time they paid he athlete on circumstances like these”.



Lineker came back home with extra USD$ 65 thousand, and the manager celebrates.



“I’m not getting anything from it other than the satisfaction of being justice being made. He’s an excellent kid, he has an excellent coach and I’m really glad he got that money. To me it was really rewarding”, concludes.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OMzl5LSa-Y[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiC94pDO9nM[/youtube]