Fighters were elated after UFC president Dana White agreed to increase fight bonuses for Saturday night’s UFC 300 in Las Vegas.
During Thursday’s press conference, White was asked if he would increase the typical $50,000 bonus for the monumental pay-per-view.
White initially responded, “What is it to be increased to?” In response, several fighters on stage started throwing numbers, including Justin Gaethje and Max Holloway, who will fight for the BMF title.
“300 (thousand), it’s done,” White declared after being showered with excessive amounts of money. “Don’t ask me any more questions.”
The audience and panel erupted with excitement after White agreed to raise the stakes in front of a live audience. On stage, the fighters celebrated the chance to win a bonus six times bigger than normal, added to the size of a star-studded card.
UFC president Dana White increased fight bonuses to $300,000 for UFC 300 on Saturday
BMF titleholder Justin Gaethje suggested increasing the bonuses in an interview with MMA Junkie
With the size of the card, Gaethje’s opponent Max Holloway echoed his sentiments
The idea to increase the bonus came from Gaethje and Holloway, whose highly anticipated showdown was hailed as the main event for Saturday.
Gaethje, who holds the symbolic title and has earned 12 fight bonuses in his career, was the first to call for a pay increase in an interview with MMA Junkie on April 6.
“It will be the most exciting fight of the evening,” The Highlight told Kevin Iole. “I just hope the UFC increases that bonus to $300,000.”
His dance partner, Holloway, is a former featherweight champion making his second attempt at 155 pounds with ten career fight bonuses. Like Gaethje, his Hawaiian counterpart promised to put on a show for the fans in Sin City.
‘It is what it is. I’m just excited to share the octagon [Justin Gaethje] come UFC 300. On a big event like this, when you have a card like this, a spotlight like this on us, because we are already the people’s main event, we can steal the show,” Blessed said on Wednesday the media day.
Holloway then echoed Gaethje’s sentiments about increasing the bonus for top performers.
Gaethje is the No. 2 ranked lightweight contender and has 12 fight bonuses in the UFC to date
Gaethje and Holloway’s showdown for the BMF title is being hailed as the main event
Holloway holds 10 fight bonuses and makes his second trip to the 155lb division
“The UFC is pushing, pushing, every time I see an ad for UFC 300 it’s me and Justin,” Holloway continued. “So finally, Tim [Simpson] or someone needs to call Dana and Hunter because we need to talk about some stuff.”
‘It looks quite funny. When we do the fighters meeting – because we always do the fighters meeting – I’m going to throw it out there. $500,000, so we can go back to $400,000, $300,000, final bid $150,000, come on. It’s UFC 300, it’s huge!’
Two days before fight night, Gaethje and Holloway got their wish – not just for themselves, but for whoever puts in a bonus-worthy performance on Saturday.
This event wouldn’t be the first time, as the UFC bonuses for milestone cards have a precedent. In 2009, White doubled the $50,000 bonus for the UFC 100 card. However, seven years later, they refused to change the bonus structure for the UFC 200 pay-per-view.
