UFC President Dana White opened up the checkbook following UFC 265, awarding six fighters $50,000 post-fight bonuses.
Along with the usual Fight of the Night and two Performance of the Night bonuses, White kicked off the event’s post-fight press conference by announcing that a third performance bonus had been awarded. Then, when MMA Junkie’s John Morgan expressed surprise that heavyweight headliner Ciryl Gane wasn’t among the bonus winners, White added a fourth bonus.
“F*ck it. He gets $50,000 too. Ciryl Gane should absolutely get the performance bonus,” exclaimed White.
The other Performance of the Night bonuses went to Jessica Penne, Vicente Luque, and Miles Johns. Penne submitted Karolina Kowalkiewicz for her second straight win since returning from a lengthy USADA suspension. Johns stunned Anderson dos Santos early on the card as well, going body-head on the Brazilian for a clean KO. Luque, meanwhile, shocked Michael Chiesa on the PPV card, submitting the wrestler via a d’arce choke and arriving in the title conversation.
Fight of the Night at UFC 265 was absolutely no surprise. That went to Bobby Green and Rafael Fiziev. The pair battled in a thrilling three-round lightweight war, in a back-and-forth effort that Fiziev won on the scorecards. That should set Fiziev up for an even bigger fight moving forward.
