Ducking Wild $303K Demand, Dana White Baited Into Giving Out 2 “Fight of the Night” Bonuses for UFC 303

Dana White has agreed to give two ‘Fight of the Night’ bonuses for UFC 303 on June 29. The main event for the T-Mobile Arena card was supposed to feature Conor McGregor‘s return to the octagon after three long years, alongside former light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill taking on Khalil Rountree and then Carlos Ulberg in the co-main event. Yet, both fights fell through.

Upon McGregor’s injury confirmation, the bout was swiftly replaced by 205-pound champ Alex Pereira vs. Jiri Prochazka at the top and Brian Ortega vs. Diego Lopes as the co-main event. Since both are absolutely electric matchups with a lot of action expected in them, White had commented at the pre-fight press conference for UFC 303 that one of the two fights would be the ‘Fight of the Night’ winner for the card.

This prompted a media member to ask the UFC CEO why he doesn’t give out two ‘FOTN’ bonuses as opposed to the usual one. Before White could answer, Brian Ortega chimed in with the suggestion he make the bonuses $303,000 a la UFC 300.

The UFC boss, however, flatly refused ‘T-City’s suggestion, but did agree to give two $100k ($50k to each fighter) ‘Fight of the Night’ bonuses. “Yeah f**k it, I’ll do it. Let’s go. Not $303,000, but two two [Fight of the Night] bonuses,” White said to sporadic boos from the crowd.

The crowd is likely to play an important role during the UFC 303 card, simply because of the record-breaking size of the crowd expected to be there. And also because Dana White and co. have given the fans some great matchups at the top of the card which will almost definitely see a lot of action. Which is not an easy feat, given the large shoes that the replacement fighters had to fill.

How UFC 303 almost fell apart

UFC 303 had become the highest-grossing gate event in UFC history by virtue of it being billed as Conor McGregor’s comeback card. However the Irishman, for the first time in his career, pulled out of a scheduled fight after fracturing his pinkie toe.

On the other hand, Jamahal Hill was eager to get back to winning ways after his UFC 300 loss and had the taken fight on a quick turnaround. Barely three months since his UFC 300 first-round loss to Alex Periera, which he feels came under dubious circumstances, he was scheduled to face fellow knockout artist Carlos Ulberg on the International Fight Week card.

However, ‘Sweet Dreams’ had to pull out, to the relief of many fans, who were concerned about Hill fighting so soon after being knocked out. The reason was a litany of injuries that the former champion has contracted. Having torn his meniscus in two places, along with a sprained ACL and a severely inflamed Baker’s Cyst are among the injuries that have forced Hill to withdraw.

However, the UFC seems to have done a good job in making a card that the fans can get behind. While there is no substitute for Conor McGregor, the biggest superstar in the sport’s history by far, Pereira-Prochazka 2 and Ortega-Lopes are, at least on paper, worthy replacements at least as far as the quality of matchups goes.

What are your thoughts on the revised bonuses?

More to come.