The upcoming UFC White House card is about as high-profile as combat sports can get, with Dana White promising a complete Washington, D.C. takeover. Even though the promotion has faced its fair share of backlash and bizarre roadblocks in the build-up to the historic event on the South Lawn, the UFC is now less than 48 hours away from presenting an epic seven-fight card live on Paramount+ from the White House.

The stakes were already high with the lightweight unification bout between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje, as well as Alex Pereira‘s heavyweight debut against Ciryl Gane, but the UFC head honcho chose to add further fuel to the fire. Dana White began Friday’s pre-fight press conference by announcing a big injection of cash into the post-fight bonus pool, courtesy of a new corporate team-up.

“Liberty Financial will serve as the presenting partner and are adding another $250,000 to the bonuses for the fighters that night,” the UFC CEO announced as soon as the press conference began. “So two athletes who earn fight of the night are gonna earn $400,000 each, and then the two performers of the night will get $425,000 each. Congratulations, everybody. Good luck.”

This type of unexpected bonus inflation is extremely rare, with only a few documented instances in company history. The UFC previously boosted bonuses to match the event number at UFC 129 in Toronto, paying out cheques totalling $129,000, and famously increased them sixfold to $300,000 each for the epic UFC 300 card when Dana White, after being prompted by the fighters, replied, “300, it’s done.”

Now, the massive bonus pool totaling $1.6 million for UFC Freedom 250 arrives at a time when the promotion is leaning heavily into its massive new seven-year, $7.7 billion deal with Paramount.

Even though the Dana White-led promotion recently raised its standard post-fight performance bonuses from $50,000 to $100,000 and added a guaranteed $25,000 finishing bonus for knockouts and submissions at the beginning of the year, critics argue that these top-heavy rewards do not address the underlying issues with the promotion’s base pay structure.

Fans go off on Dana White and the UFC despite increased bonus pay

Despite the eye-popping figures thrown around at the press conference, the announcement failed to please long-time critics of the promotion’s payment method.

One fan instantly took to social media to point out the hypocrisy of a multibillion-dollar firm relying on outside sponsors like Liberty Financial to give out competitive bonuses, as he wrote, “Honestly embarrassing they rely on sponsors to pay large bonuses.”

Others took a more cynical view of Dana White’s sudden generosity, with one fan joking, “He wants knockouts only so the fights can finish before the rain starts.”

The discrepancy between the massive cost of staging the event and the guaranteed money traditional undercard fighters take home remained a big talking point for fight fans. On a standard entry-level contract, a fighter moving from $12,000 to $16,000 over three fights would still only be paid $84,000 for a full year of damage.

On the other hand, Jake Paul‘s Most Valuable Promotions recently made headlines by staging an MMA card on Netflix with a $40,000 flat-fee minimum salary, completely discarding the Dana White-led promotion’s traditional and highly criticized “show/win” model.

So, it was no surprise that fans pointed it out on social media, as one fan wrote, “60 million to build the space. Million dollar bonus pool. Fighters still making less than the catering budget.” Another joined the criticism parade with, “Seriously Dana? He could do more.”

For one user, it wasn’t just the money, but also the setting which remains bizarre. With the UFC head honcho himself admitting that hosting the event outdoors has been a logistical nightmare due to the natural threats that can derail the whole event, one fan commented, “He wants knockouts only so the fights can finish before the rain starts. 😭😭”

However, not everyone was criticizing Dana White and the UFC online, as many others celebrated the bump in bonuses. One fan wrote, “Damn those bonuses getting crazy.” Another added, “Much deserved as long as this card is as insane as expected.” More chimed in with comments such as, “Finally, been way too low for too long,” and “Bros about to give out almost 2 mil in bonuses alone. F— yeah.”

For now, it seems like Dana White’s $1.6 million bonus pool will definitely spark some crazy, violent performances on the White House grounds, but it will take far more than a one-night payday for the promotion to silence the louder conversations over fighter pay.