Dan Ige probably lost to Diego Lopes at UFC 303 due to accepting the fight on a four-hour notice. But ’50K’ is now enjoying the perks of showcasing such heart, in the form of a payday that earned him “double or triple” the amount of his usual income.
Ige did look underprepared for the encounter during his time inside the octagon. He struggled to find the correct range from which he could land strikes on his Brazilian rival, Lopes.
But the spirit that the Hawaiian native showcased was simply second to none. Despite having no preparation for the fight, Ige didn’t let his rival finish him. He resisted Lopes’ attacks for all three rounds but eventually lost the fight via a unanimous decision.
Of course, the UFC President is known to award fighters handsomely for taking short-notice fights and saving the day and Ige did save the day on the 29th of June.
The perks that the 32-year-old talked about look well-justified due to the effort and ‘never back down’ attitude he showcased in the octagon on 29 June. Speaking to MMA Junkie, Ige said he might have lost the fight but he won a lot more.
“I won a lot of notoriety, I won fans, I got UFC favor, and it feels good. I got paid well, I probably made double or triple what I normally get. It hit the bank account today and it looks nice”
Dan Ige reveals he “got double or triple” his usual pay to fight Diego Lopes at #UFC303 on four hours’ notice.
“In a way, it felt like I won. I won a lot of notoriety, I won fans, I got UFC favor, and it feels good.”
(via @TheGoze, @MMAJunkieGeorge) pic.twitter.com/RqXLzf1AnR
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) July 3, 2024
Of course, Ige deserved the purse he got, but this wasn’t the first time White has been generous with fighters this year either.
Christmas has come early for many UFC fighters in 2024
UFC fans have regularly bashed White repeatedly for providing meager payouts to a majority of their fighters.
This is gone on to a point that even YouTuber-boxer Jake Paul has called out White regarding fighter pay.
But 2024 been good to the fighters under White.
The 54-year-old bowed down to the demands of his fighters and raised the regular bonus amount of $50k to $300k for their milestone PPV, the UFC 300 in a heartbeat.
Then UFC 303 also had White repeating the same incident twice. He promised Dan Ige a 2x or 3x fight purse which got credited to his bank account recently.
But the biggest purse was for his light heavyweight champion, Alex Pereira, who went home with a $303k ‘Performance Of The Night’ bonus. This was after ‘Poatan’ reminded fans that he hadn’t earned a bonus at UFC 300 despite his awesome performance.
Now, while this is all very nice, this is still pretty niche and limited and doesn’t help fighters in general. It’s something that will still need to improve a lot if the sport has to evolve.
