UFC fighter rewarded with $50,000 bonus after escaping disqualification for landing illegal BACKFLIP knee

Middleweight contender Michel Pereira had a great night at UFC 301.

The flamboyant Brazilian knockout artist looked sensational as he put Ihor Potieria to sleep with a standing guillotine choke in just 54 seconds at the Farmasi Arena, in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday night.

However, some fans think he should’ve been disqualified at UFC 301.

Pereira dropped his opponent with a huge two-punch combination before attempting to avoid an up-kick by doing a backflip to land on top of Potieria.

Unfortunately, as ‘Demolidor’ crash landed his knee connected with the chin of Potieria and began a sequence of events that ultimately left Pereira’s opponent unconscious on the floor.

The 30-year-old landed several punches on his dazed foe before locking up a choke and forcing the tap before Potieria dropped to the floor and started convulsing in a worrying scene.

Thankfully, the Ukrainian fighter quickly got back up and appeared to be fine as everyone inside the arena waited to see if Pereira’s win would be overturned due to the illegal shot he landed.

Commission officials could be seen discussing the decision before legendary UFC announcer Bruce Buffer got in the Octagon and confirmed Pereira’s submission win.

UFC fans expressed their surprise when Pereira wasn’t DQ’d.

One person tweeted: “100% DQ. What the hell is going on?”

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Another said: “Isn’t that illegal?”

A third person commented: “That gets overturned in every other country lol clear illegal strike.”

Someone else fumed: “Rigged victory. should’ve been no contest.”

The UFC bosses were clearly happy with how things played out as they rewarded Pereira with a $50,000 bonus for the fourth fight in a row.

“I still think he’s got to learn his lesson from doing backflips and trying to land illegal knees,’ UFC announcer Paul Felder said during the pay-per-view broadcast.

“But looking at the one angle, a lot of it did land on the chest – thank God for him – and I think that’s what stopped him from potentially getting DQ’d right here.”

Pereira is currently on an eight-fight win streak, but he has taken things to the next level since moving up to middleweight last year.

All three of his fights since then have ended in the very first round and the longest time he’s spent in the Octagon at 185lbs is just 66 seconds.

Pereira can expect a ranked opponent when he returns later this year, but for now, he’ll just be enjoying another impressive victory and another big bonus.