The UFC will pay John Dodson part of his base purse for his cancelled co-main vs. Pedro Munhoz.
UFC bantamweight contender John Dodson was ready to take on a dangerous opponent in Pedro Munhoz, but his trip to Brazil will see him not compete at all.
Munhoz badly missed weight for Saturday night’s UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Anders co-main event, coming in at 140 pounds, whereas Dodson was on the nose at 135 lbs. Unlike when he fought John Lineker in October 2016, Dodson turned down a catchweight fight, so the bout was scrapped. “The Magician” later explained his decision to MMA Weekly’s Damon Martin.
“He came in five pounds over weight,” Dodson explained when speaking from Brazil. “Originally, they told me he was three pounds [over] and I gave him the benefit of the doubt and said, oh, he’s 139? They said he’s more like 140-point-something. I’m guessing he’s in the ballpark figure around 141.
“He’s not bantamweight now, he’s a featherweight, first. Second, I made all the sacrifices and did my job to make weight and he chose not to.”
An initial report by MMAjunkie said that Dodson won’t be paid even his base purse, which is something Vitor Belfort also experienced when his recent UFC Fight Night: St. Louis co-main event vs. Uriah Hall was nixed on the day of the weigh-ins. Belfort turned down a late-replacement fight, and was pulled from the event. However, MMAjunkie’s John Morgan was told by the UFC that Dodson will receive an undisclosed percentage of his “show” money, as well as an offer to rebook the Munhoz fight for UFC 222 on March 3rd.
UFC officials tell me Dodson will be paid a portion of his show money (exact amount not revealed) and have offered to rebook the fight with Munhoz at UFC 222 in Las Vegas.
— John Morgan (@MMAjunkieJohn) February 3, 2018
This would be similar to Tony Ferguson getting part of his show money after his UFC 209 matchup vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov fell through, and he turned down lower contracted pay for a last-minute switch vs. Michael Johnson.
It should be noted that Dodson is entering the final fight of his current UFC contract.
Update: Mike Bohn also adds that Dodson will receive his Reebok sponsorship money, which totals $10,000.
In addition to this, I’m told John Dodson will get his Reebok Athlete Outfitting pay of $10,000. UFC claims it jumped the gun in stating he would get nothing. https://t.co/fSIrsLh4FH
— Mike Bohn (@MikeBohnMMA) February 3, 2018