De Ridder, Williams, Sinsamut Earn Performance Bonuses At ONE 159
There were a plethora of exciting matches and scintillating finishes at ONE 159: De Ridder vs. Bigdash on Friday, July 22, but three fighters’ standout performances earned them some extra cash from ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong.
Sityodtong awarded US$50,000 performance bonuses to two-division ONE World Champion Reinier de Ridder, dual-sport strawweight competitor Danial Williams, and Thai knockout artist Sinsamut Klinmee.
De Ridder was the biggest winner of the night, as he kept his undefeated record intact, earned a performance bonus, and proved that he is truly the king of the middleweight MMA division.
“The Dutch Knight” submitted former titleholder Vitaly Bigdash via inverted triangle in the first round of their main event clash to retain his ONE Middleweight World Championship.
This marks his second performance bonus. The first one he received was back in February, when he submitted reigning ONE Welterweight World Champion Kiamrian Abbasov.
Williams earned a US$50,000 bonus check for his spectacular first-round knockout of Zelang Zhaxi.
The Aussie-Thai phenom kicked off the lead card in highlight-reel fashion, as he floored the Chinese debutant with a massive right cross in their strawweight MMA battle.
Thai striking star Sinsamut received the first performance bonus of the night when he sparked England’s Liam Nolan with a left hook in the second round of their lightweight Muay Thai clash.
Now, after earning a bonus check for knocking out Nieky Holzken in March, the Pattaya native enters the ONE history books by becoming the first athlete to earn back-to-back performance bonuses.
The next time ONE’s stars will be eligible for a US$50,000 performance bonus will be at ONE 160: Ok vs. Lee II and ONE on Prime Video 1: Moraes vs. Johnson II, which broadcasts live from the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Friday, August 26.
