MANCHESTER, England – It took seven consecutive decisions for UFC CEO Dana White to call off an immediate increase in future performance bonuses.
The judges had no time to rest from fight five through fight eleven at UFC 304. In the end, the three fighters shared the four $100,000 performance bonuses that White persuaded King Greene and Leon Edwards to give to them at Thursday's pre-fight press conference.
This marks the third time White has announced a bonus increase at a UFC pre-fight press conference, and he said 2024 will be the last.
“I think tonight's fight shows us that we shouldn't do that,” White told MMA Junkie and other reporters at the post-fight press conference. “Increasing the bonuses doesn't change anything. It doesn't make anybody fight harder. It changes nothing. I'm never doing this again. Today was the last day I'm doing it. I'm not saying there won't be bonuses in the future, but I'm not going to sit in a press conference and say, '$200,000, $300,000.' Never again. Never again.
“So you can thank everybody on the card. Nobody fought as hard as he did. There was no sense of urgency, like, 'Oh man, I want $100,000.' Who cares? It's f**king seven o'clock in Vegas, so who cares. Oh man, I'm not doing it again. Seven f**king decisions in a row. $100,000 was just f**king bullshit. 'Yo, let's get it, guys.' I'm never doing that f**king thing again.”
UFC's performance bonuses have remained fairly consistent at $50,000 since 2013. White suggested in his response Saturday that the standard could increase in the future, but no plans for that have been made public.
For more on the card, check out MMA Junkie's UFC 304 event hub.
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