Getty Dana White doesn't expect Jon Jones to fight for the heavyweight title.
UFC president Dana White recently admitted that he should have awarded flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo a performance bonus after the Brazilian defended his title at UFC 255 on November 21. And to make up for it, he gave the “God of War” a pile of cash, which was shown on video.
Figueiredo headlined UFC 255 last Saturday against No. 4 ranked Alex Perez and only needed one round to get the job done. The God of War caught Perez in a vicious guillotine, forcing the tap at 1:57 into the first frame. It was an impressive feat, however it wasn’t enough that night for White to give the champion a bonus.
The two “Performance of the Night” bonuses went to middleweight Joaquin Buckley for his second-round knockout of Jordan Wright and strawweight Antonina Shevchenko for her second-round TKO of Ariane Lipski. “Fight of the Night” honors went to welterweights Louis Cosce and Sasha Palatniko, who put on a wild contest during the first match of UFC 255. Palatnikov won by third-round TKO.
All four fighters received an extra $50,000. A few days later, however, White revealed that he “made a mistake” and that he should have given Figueiredo a bonus.
A video was shared via Instagram Story by the God of War’s manager, Wallid Ismail. The video showed the manager, fighter, White, UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby and others in a room, and during the video, Figueiredo was given a stack of cash.
“I f***** up. I made a mistake,” White said in the video. Ismail’s video was uploaded on Twitter and it can be viewed below:
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Figueiredo Is Headlining Another UFC Pay-Per-View, Less Than a Month After UFC 255
Figueiredo is set to make history. The Brazilian is scheduled to defend his belt for the second time, headlining UFC 256 on December 12. It will be the quickest turnaround for a UFC champion in the promotion’s history.
He is taking on another victor from UFC 255, No. 1 ranked flyweight Brandon Moreno. Moreno headlined the preliminary portion of the event, fighting Brandon Royval and winning by first-round TKO.
The God of War is 20-1 in his professional MMA career and is riding a five-fight win streak. December 12 will mark Figueiredo’s fourth fight in 2020 and if he wins, the Brazilian could be the consensus “Fighter of the Year.”
UFC 256 will be Moreno’s third fight of 2020. At 18-5-1, “The Assassin Baby” will headline his first-ever event for the promotion.
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Tony Ferguson Is Set to Take on Charles Oliveira in the Co-Main Event of UFC 256
The co-main event on December 12 will feature an exciting lightweight contest between No. 3 ranked Tony Ferguson and No. 6 ranked Charles Oliveira. With the future of the division unknown due to champion Khabib Nurmagomedov’s retirement, a win is crucial for the fighters to remain in the title picture.
Ferguson (25-4) is coming off a fifth-round TKO loss to Justin Gaethje in May, which snapped his 12-fight winning streak. Oliveira (29-8) is on a hot streak right now, winning his last seven bouts in a row via finish.
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