Earlier this month, in response to complaints from a number of fighters, UFC President Dana White threatened to do away with event bonuses like Fight of the Night and Knockout of the Night once and for all, as a means of increasing the base pay for lower level fighters. Basically, the UFC’s head honcho was tired of guys complaining that they weren’t earning enough just for showing up, so he told them all in the most Dana White way possible that they’d no longer have a shot to make an extra $50K for making us yell, “OH SH*T!” the loudest.
Of course, as soon as some of the bigger fighters figured out what that meant, their opinions far outweighed those of the guys on the preliminary cards, and White changed his tune to assure us all during yesterday’s UFC on Fox 8 conference call that guys would still try to rip each other’s heads off for the chance to win some additional cash.
“At the last press conference (at UFC 162), I told the press we’re not doing away with the fight-night bonuses,” White said on Tuesday’s call. “After I said (we might eliminate them), I got a lot of feedback. The fighters want the (fight-night) bonuses and they want the discretionary bonuses to stay the same. So that’s that.” (Via USA Today)
The highlight of the conference call is Jake Ellenberger playing hype man to White’s assessment of the bonus situation, as you can hear the Juggernaut shout, “Preach!” to show his approval of the boss man’s decision. But a close second is John Moraga’s very elaborate answer to a question about his preparations for his upcoming fight against Demetrious Johnson.
Reporter: “Mighty Mouse has headlined some big Pay-Per-Views, or actually some big cards that have been on national television. You’ve been on the undercard a couple times. This is probably your biggest fight and going to be your biggest payday. Does that pressure get to you at all?”
John Moraga: “No.”
John Moraga, ladies and gentlemen. The exact opposite of Chael Sonnen.
(Conference call via MMA Fighting)
