Dana White waved his magic wand at Thursday’s UFC 300 pre-fight press conference, or at least said the magic words.
As a result, two popular requests for Saturday’s UFC 300 card have been granted: Mark Coleman will award the BMF title in the lightweight battle between Justin Gaethje and Max Holloway, and post-fight bonuses will be worth $300,000 USD.
The move, at least on the bonus front, was something of a surprise. White had previously been dismissive of boosting bonuses to that level, despite $100,000 bonuses being dished out at UFC 100. At UFC 200, the promotion’s last big milestone card in 2016, four fighters picked up Performance of the Night bonuses: Amanda Nunes, Cain Velasquez, Gegard Mousasi, and Joe Lauzon.
That card, however, saw bonuses awarded at their modern era baseline of $50,000. No Fight of the Night was handed out that night.
But for UFC 300, it will be 300K. When White was asked about Coleman, who recently saved his parents from a house fire, awarded the BMF title, “Done. Done,” White replied. Both Max Holloway and BMF champ Justin Gaethje have been vocal about Coleman being the man to award the belt.
The symbolic title, first created for the Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal fight in 2019, was originally awarded to winner Masvidal by WWE star The Rock.
When MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn then asked White about upping the bonus money, the UFC CEO replied by asking how much they should be worth. That caused a number of fighters on stage to chime in with numbers from $100,000 to $300,000.
“300, it’s done,” White stated moments later. He then added, somewhat jokingly, “stop asking me questions.”
Later, UFC featherweight Sodiq Yusuff would suggest during an answer to Cageside Press that separate bonuses be handed out for the early prelims, preliminary card, and main card. It remains to be seen if White grants that request, but it doesn’t look positive. As he pointed out, $1.2 million dollars is up for grabs with just the four traditional bonuses.
Jim Miller, the only fighter to appear on all of UFC 100, 200, and UFC 300, later joked that the bonus money might just lure him back for UFC 400. “If the bonuses are 400K, then I’m f*cking back.”
