Esteban Ribovics arguably had the best finish at UFC on ESPN 56. Yet, he wasn’t one of the winners of a Performance of the Night bonus.
This past Saturday in St. Louis, Ribovics (13-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) picked up the biggest win of his professional MMA career by scoring one of the best knockouts of 2024. The Argentine head-kicked Terrance McKinney (15-7 MMA, 5-4 UFC) unconscious just 37 seconds into their lightweight bout. It was a brutal, but beautiful finish.
Unfortunately, Ribovics wasn’t among the winners of the $50,000 Performance of the Night bonuses.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Ribovics told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “What more do I need to do? I’m not going to say it was a boring event up until that point because there were good fights, but there wasn’t the excitement of a knockout like that until my fight. Obviously, I was a little disappointed, but other good things will come from this knockout. I’m sure I’ll get more opportunities to prove I deserve a bonus.”
After his KO win, Ribovics called out UFC star Paddy Pimblett. He knows it’s a stretch, but he’s hoping to get rewarded with the Englishman. Ribovics would have no problem fighting with him as a U.K. visitor and take that fight under any circumstances.
“I don’t think I will get it, but maybe they think he can beat me and they match us up,” Ribovics said. “But if they do, he will find something completely different. That’s the only way I see this happening. But I’d like to fight with Paddy. I like his style, and I like the eyes that he draws. That would be a fight I’d have the crowd against me. I like that fight, and I like his style. It would be a big jump for me in all aspects.”
