Eight years after making his debut, 28-year-old Antonio Vargas finally grabbed his first world championship after defeating Winston Guerrero on the MVP Prospect 10 card. The Houston native won the interim WBA bantamweight title in one of the most impressive comebacks after going down in the second round.

The fight impressed everyone in attendance as MVP and Jake Paul awarded Vargas the Performance of the Night award and gave him a special bonus. However, the move slightly backfired for ‘The Problem Child’ as fans compared him to UFC head honcho Dana White.

Jake Paul’s special bonus and a pat on the back

After the fight, MVP took to their Instagram and posted a graphic showing Vargas winning the Performance of the Night award. The graphic also featured Jake Paul as he gave an extra cash bonus to the 28-year-old for his performance. The caption read, “Our #Prospects10 Performance of the Night brought to you by the @cariberoyaleorlando goes to Antonio Vargas after an impressive battle for the WBA Interim World Bantamweight Title! Antonio Vargas will receive a $10K bonus!” explaining the bonus amount.

The post also featured a post-match clip where El Gallo walked down the ring to congratulate the new interim champion. Vargas’s performance and warrior spirit impressed the 27-year-old. He declared, “You crushed it, bro. Way to fight off the canvas. You showed you are a warrior, and we are gonna give you the fight of the night. 10k bonus,” as the crowd erupted in cheer.

It was truly an inspirational performance by Vargas, who dropped Guerrero within 30 seconds of the fight. However, just when it looked like he would run away with the fight, Guerrero came with a befitting reply in the second round to knock down Vargas on the mat. The new bantamweight champion switched his strategy from there on and softened Guerrero up over the next nine rounds. In the end, he delivered a series of right hands to get a 10th-round TKO victory.

It was truly a performance worthy of that award. However, many fans felt differently as they not only criticized Jake Paul for choosing the wrong fight for the award but also unleashed on him for a below-par bonus.

Nowhere near Dana White believe fans

A fan wrote, “Poor Man’s Dana White,” claiming that Jake Paul is just trying to copy the UFC head honcho. White introduced the idea of the ‘Performance Of The Night Award’ in UFC back in 2014. Previously, he used to award “Knockout of the Night” and “Submission of the Night” bonuses for every UFC event. According to the fan, Paul was trying to imitate White and was failing as the latter awarded heftier bonuses, a fact addressed by another fan.

The fan wrote, “BUT DANA WHITE GIVES 50K BONUSES!!!!!!!!!” remarking on the stark difference in the bonus money. White, indeed, gives typically a $50,000 monetary bonus. However, it may vary based on events. The same thing happened with Jake Paul, who gave a monetary bonus on a prospect’s card, which attracts very few fans. If the event was bigger, we might have seen a bigger bonus. 

Another fan, who did not agree with the choice, wrote, “Really? I mean I guess, but Dainier the fear was performance of the night for me.” According to the fan, the heavyweight rising star, Dainier Pero was the performer of the night who defeated Walter Burns via a first-round knockout.

Another user went in a completely different direction and claimed that the fight was tailor-made for Vargas to win. He wrote, “Even tho guerrero was throwing and moving a lot more than him, okay. He got a bad stoppage and this was made so vargas can go to japan we get it,” declaring that the fight was somehow rigged. 

Vargas has now become the mandatory challenger for the WBA champion Seiya Tsutsumi. We might see that fight early next year, as Vargas is desperate for the championship. On the other hand, the claim made by the fan was completely baseless.

Amidst the sea of criticism, one fan actually appreciated Vargas and Jake Paul’s idea. He wrote, “Oh yeah he deserves it 🔥,” praising The Problem Child for choosing Vargas for the bonus. 

While the amount offered by Jake Paul might not be equal to what Dana White provides in the UFC, the MVP Prospects 10 was nowhere on the level of a UFC event. Considering how big of an advocate El Gallo has become for boxing, chances are he would provide a much larger bonus on a bigger event.

What are your views on Jake Paul’s bonus? Do you think he was trying to imitate Dana White? Let us know your thoughts down below.