UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira tricked Dana White into giving him a $303k bonus for his UFC 303 victory. The Brazilian, of course, defended his title for the second time and knocked out Jiri Prochazka courtesy of a spectacular head-kick in the second round of their June 29 main event bout.

But to understand the whole story, we need to go back a bit. At the pre-fight press conference for UFC 300 anniversary mega-card, UFC CEO Dana White was convinced by the reporters, fighters, and fans to give out $300k bonuses for the night, instead of the usual $50k.

A similar scene played out at the UFC 303 press conference, as Dana White was talked into giving two ‘Fight of the Night’ bonuses at UFC 303. While someone suggested a $303k bonus à la UFC 300, the UFC boss shot down this second idea.

However, Pereira, who speaks only Portuguese, told Dana White after his bonus-winning UFC 303 victory that he had misunderstood the UFC CEO at the press conference, and was under the impression that he would get a $303k bonus instead of the usual $50k, like at UFC 300. To which, Dana White couldn’t help but laugh, and gave in, giving Pereira the $303k bonus which ‘Poatan’ revealed in a video on his official YouTube channel.

“When I left the Octagon… we had a talk with the organization, Dana White. Then he said: ‘I gave you bonus of the fight’. Then I said to him, ‘$303,000?’ Then he laughed and said, ‘No, $50,000’ and I was like, ‘At the interview they asked you, I don’t understand English and I understood it was $303,000’. Then he laughed again and said, ‘Okay fine, $303,000 for you’. Then I thanked him,” Pereira sheepishly admitted in his native Portuguese. In the same clip, among other things, he even revealed when he sees himself fighting next, and against whom.

Alex Pereira thinks Magomed Ankalaev probably next

Pereira has only fought former champions (one of them, Jiri Prochazka, twice) in his four fights in the light heavyweight division. And none, except for Jan Blachowicz on ‘Poatan’s first fight at 291 last year, could go the distance with the Brazilian, let alone defeat him. However, both Jamahal Hill and Jiri Prochazka were strikers, an area where ‘Poatan’ with his long and fortuitous kickboxing stint excels. Blachowicz, however, made him look comparatively worse, losing a controversial decision to ‘Poatan’ that many think should have gone the other way.

And Pereira is likely to face another fighter who can handle himself on the ground – #2 ranked Magomed Ankalaev. While the Dagestani is also primarily a striker, he does have extensive grappling experience, which could prove difficult, possibly even fatal for ‘Poatan’.

However, despite the unfavorable matchup on paper, the Brazilian is looking forward to fighting Ankalaev and said in the same video that he was “prepared” to fight the former title contender, towards the end of the year, in November or December. And all of the questions about Alex Pereira’s grappling skills (or lack thereof) will most likely be answered there, one way or the other.  What are your thoughts on Pereira tricking Dana White into giving him the bonus?