UFC 304 will occur on Saturday at the Co-op Arena in Manchester, England. UFC CEO Dana White said the event set the early record for the largest gate at the new arena.
Perhaps the revenue gained from the large gate inspired White and his team, as he agreed to double the dollar amount attached to the Performance of the Night bonuses for fighters at the event.
The bonuses were increased at the pre-event press conference on Thursday when King Green, one of the fighters on the main card, asked White to bump them up to $100,000. White appealed to the show’s headliner, Leon Edwards, and then obliged the request. The video shows a look at the entire presser.
The moment between Green and White happens at the 15:23 mark.
Back in April, White agreed to bump up the bonus to $300,000 apiece for the historic UFC 300. The UFC also turned up the performance incentives by giving Alex Pereira $302,000 for his event-saving appearance and dominant second-round KO victory over Jiri Prochazka in June at UFC 302.
Precedence may be set for the UFC to award higher bonuses for cards that hit a certain threshold for gate or PPV buys.
This makes you wonder if there is a chance the promotion will give certain pay-per-views a supershow tag, which automatically carries a higher bonus for fighters who put on standout performances at those events.
The next such show is Noche UFC in September at the Las Vegas Sphere.
As for UFC 304, here is a look at the complete lineup of fights.
MAIN CARD (ESPN+ PPV at 10 p.m. ET)
- (c) Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad – UFC Welterweight Championship
- (c) Tom Aspinall vs. Curtis Blaydes – UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship
- King Green vs. Paddy Pimblett
- Christopher Leroy Duncan vs. Gregory Rodrigues
- Arnold Allen vs. Giga Chikadze
PRELIMS (ESPN2/ESPN+ at 8 pm ET)
- Nathaniel Wood vs. Daniel Pineda
- Molly McCann vs. Bruna Brasil
- Jake Hadley vs. Caolan Loughran
- Modestas Bukauskas vs. Marcin Prachnio
EARLY PRELIMS (ESPN2/ESPN+ at 6 p.m. ET)
- Oban Elliott vs. Preston Parsons
- Muhammad Mokaev vs. Manel Kape
- Sam Patterson vs. Kiefer Crosbie
- Mick Parkin vs. Lukasz Brzeski
- Shauna Bannon vs. Alice Ardelean
If you’re looking for potential candidates to walk away from the event with the $100K bonuses, look no further than the co-main event winner. UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall will defend his title against Curtis Blaydes in a rematch.
Whenever top-level heavyweights clash, there is a chance for an explosive finish. I’d be surprised if this one goes the distance.
Also, watch these two fights for potential Fight of the Night scraps—King Green vs. Paddy Pimblett and Nathaniel Wood vs. Daniel Pineda.
Both of these matchups have the potential to be special. Green is a superior striker with underrated grappling. Pimblett is a willing brawler, but he excels when the Fight goes to the ground.
If Green can keep the Fight standing, he’ll have a chance to put on a striking clinic, but if it goes to the ground, things could get dicey.
Wood is seemingly always in action fights, and Pineda is a fighter whose scraps usually end in a finish.
Nine of his last ten completed bouts have ended in a finish, and he’s 7-3 during that stretch. Everything about that Fight suggests it will be a spirited war.
The action gets underway in Manchester at 6 pm ET on ESPN+ and ESPN 2. The main card starts at 10 pm ET. Be on the lookout for a breakdown following the event.