Alex Pereira banked some extra coin for saving the day and delivering another highlight-reel performance during Saturday’s massive headliner in Las Vegas.
During an appearance on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Pereira’s longtime coach Plinio Cruz revealed that CEO Dana White gave Pereira a $303,000 post-fight bonus following his successful light heavyweight title defense at UFC 303.
“He was talking to Dana in the back, and they were talking about a bunch of stuff, and Dana said, ‘As a matter of fact, you won Performance of the Night.’ And he said, ‘$303,000?’ He goes, ‘No, no, no, $50,000,’” Cruz explained.
”But reality of the fact is, he did not — they gave $300,000 bonuses for [UFC] 300 and [Pereira] did not get Performance of the Night. They gave two to Max [Holloway], so he was a little bit salty about that. And I think because of all their history and then taking the fight on two weeks’ [notice], Dana looked at him and said, ‘You know what, man? I’m going to take care of you. You’ve got the $303,000.’ He even joked, he said buy a supercar with that money. [Pereira] goes, ‘I’ve got enough supercars.’ He wants a Cybertruck.”
Pereira stepped into the UFC 303 headliner on just 16 days’ notice after the original main event, Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler, was scrapped when the Irishman broke his pinky toe while sparring.
It was the second time in a matter of months that ‘Poatan’ has stepped up to save the day, the last time being at UFC 300 when Pereira put his 205-pound crown on the line against ex-titleholder Jamahal Hill. Originally, Pereira was negotiating to run it back with Prochazka at UFC 305 on August 17 when they got the call to step in and headline this year’s International Fight Week card.
Could Alex Pereira become the UFC’s first-ever three-division champion?
Alex Pereira is now 8-1 under the UFC banner, earning wins over a heap of former champions, including Sean Strickland, Israel Adesanya, Jan Blachowicz, Jamahal Hill, and Jiri Prochazka. He is just the ninth fighter in the promotion’s 30+ year history to win belts in two different divisions.
Following his impressive performance at UFC 303, it certainly seems like Pereira could find himself with a shot at doing what no man has done before — winning belts in three different divisions.
“[Pereira] has actually a very special vision [when it comes to] timing, distance, and the angles in the way that he [approaches his craft],” Cruz added. “It’s almost like he has his own style of fighting. He just combines his boxing and the kickboxing, and the way that he just implements [everything] is just light years ahead, the vision that he has [for] the game.”
