The inaugural Fan Bonus of the Night — or more accurately, bonuses — were handed out following UFC 273.
Voted on by fans via Crypto.com, the post-fight bonuses, which will feature at each UFC Pay-Per-View event, see $30 thousand, $20 thousand, and $10 thousand dollar bonuses paid out in their bitcoin equivalent. And with the votes tallied, the first three recipients are in — with one coming as a bit of a surprise.
Per the voting page on Crypto.com, Khamzat Chimaev, Alexander Volkanovski, and Petr Yan took home the awards.
In the case of Chimaev, who went the distance in an instant classic with Gilbert Burns, the bonus comes as no surprise. Despite two title fights adorning the UFC 273 card, Khamzat was the most talked-about fighter of the week, and the Burns fight was seen as the biggest test of his career. It goes without saying that he passed, capturing a unanimous decision in an action-packed war that saw both fighters rocked on more than one occasion.
With Chimaev claiming the first-place fan bonus, it was featherweight champ Volkanovski sliding into second. His main event scrap with the popular Korean Zombie ended via fourth round TKO, securing the Australian his third consecutive title defense.
It also secured him $20,000 in bonus money, paid out in bitcoin.
Petr Yan, meanwhile, took home the third place Fan Bonus of the Night. The Russian’s name came as something of a surprise, given Aljamain Sterling won their bantamweight title unification bout, albeit by split decision.
With their career series tied at 1-1 in some fan’s minds (while officially being 2-0 for Aljo), there’s a chance Sterling and Yan finish out the potential trilogy. In the meantime, $10,000 in crypto will hopefully take the sting off for former champ Yan.
