If the 26 fighters set to compete at UFC 300 didn’t already have ample motivation to earn a memorable victory and put on a show on Saturday night, then perhaps Thursday’s announcement from Dana White was the sweetener they needed.
The UFC president announced, or more accurately was goaded into, boosting the UFC 300 Performance of the Night and Fight of the Night bonuses to $300,000 as opposed to the usual $50,000.
“It’s done!” White shouted as the fighters on stage and fans in attendance at the official pre-fight press conference erupted in cheers.
For most UFC cards, one Fight of the Night award is given to each of the competing fighters in the bout deemed best at an event, plus two Performance of the Night awards are usually handed out to the fighters that pick up the best highlight-reel stoppage victories.
The last time the UFC handed out fight night bonuses worth more than $50,000 was in 2021 for UFC 262 when $75,000 bonuses were awarded to four athletes, one of whom was Charles Oliveira who faces Arman Tsarukyan on the main card at UFC 300. Oliveira is the UFC’s all-time leader in fight night bonuses with 19 although the former lightweight champion enters this bout as an underdog.
The UFC notably did this back in 2009 when they announced $100,000 fight night bonuses for UFC 100.
The 13-fight card takes place Saturday at T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas and all 26 fighters were on stage at the same time Thursday. Typically, you don’t see that many fighters together at once.
In addition to the bonuses, White also agreed to having Mark Coleman present the BMF Title to the winner of Justin Gaethje vs. Max Holloway.
The BMF Title is meant to signify the “Baddest Mother(bleeper)” in the sport and those who compete for it tend to possess a rare breed of fighting spirit.
Coleman, 59, was the inaugural UFC heavyweight champion and recently made headlines from being hospitalized after saving his parents from a house fire.
The UFC had already planned on flying Coleman out to Las Vegas to be among the special guests at the fights and both Holloway and Gaethje recently suggested Coleman would be the perfect person to do it.
The UFC had WWE superstar The Rock present the custom BMF belt to Masvidal after he defeated Diaz in 2019, and Masvidal draped the belt over Gaethje’s shoulder after he felled Dustin Poirier in their BMF bout at UFC 291 last year.
“I’m (expletive) pumped to be on this card,” Gaethje said Thursday. “The energy in the building is going to be insane and I got the perfect dance partner for this (expletive). We’re both going to go out there and try to hurt each other. I don’t care if he likes me or I like him, our job is to fight each other and that’s what we’re here for.”
White also said the canvas in the Octagon at UFC 300 will be blue, though he did not provide any further information.
The organization will occasionally fit their cage with a different coloured or special canvas for specific events. The canvas used at UFC 200, for example, was a yellowy-gold colour and they used a retro look for their 25th anniversary card that took place in Denver in 2018.