One of the biggest events of the year took place on April 13 in the form of UFC 300. To make things extra special, Dana White and his team raised the stakes for the fight night bonuses. White approved of an idea that was originally put forth by Max Holloway at the pre-event presser. White and co. announced a 6x increase on the usual $50000 bonus to elevate it to a whopping $300,000. While that was only a one-off incident, UFC veteran Tim Means believes that it should be a standard for all UFC events going forward.
Tim Means attended the media day press conference ahead of his fight with Uros Medic. During the interaction, Means was asked about the $300,000 bonus and what he made of it. Means replied to ‘MMA Junkie’ saying,
“Yeah where are those guys? I hope y’all keep the same energy. Show up with $300,000 bonuses. Don’t mess around, let’s talk about it. Let’s at least sit down in the room whenever we do our rules meeting over here Saturday night and let’s have a discussion. Damn right. $300,000, it can not go back. Its not bragging if you’re backing up. Keep it the same. These shows (UFC Apex) are usually more fun-er than most PPVs.”
Reflecting on the matter, Means urged Dana White to have a discussion about raising the bonuses permanently. He further went on to make a bold claim to say that the UFC Apex events are sometimes much more intriguing than the PPVs. Thus, he felt that the fighters should get a monetary caviar to justify their hard work.
Means bounced back from a three-fight losing streak to secure a win against Andre Fialho in his last outing. During the press conference, he credited his wife and children for changing his approach towards fighting.
The 40-year-old stated that having a wife and children gave him a bigger reason to fight and secure wins in the UFC. Unfortunately, Means’ petition of raising the bonuses overall might be falling on deaf ears.
Tim Means to bring about the same change as Max Holloway in the UFC?
Prior to UFC 300, Max Holloway jokingly suggested that the UFC should raise the bonuses to $300,000. At the time, little did Holloway know that he would be walking away with $600,000 at the end of the night. The UFC Fight of the Night bonuses have remained at $50,000 since 2013. However, there have been instances where Dana White has given out multiple bonuses in a night.
But as far as Means’ demands are concerned, it is highly unlikely that his statement will convince the UFC to raise the bonus to $300,000 for good. While the amount might get raised eventually, a permanent 6x raise seems quite impossible.
