Fan complaints after UFC 324 didn’t go unnoticed, with Dana White responding to the criticism following the event.
It was quite a way to kick off the UFC’s new partnership with Paramount, which comes in at $7.7 billion over seven years.
The main event featured an interim lightweight title fight that went five rounds between Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett.
Still, not everything went down well with viewers, and White found himself addressing the issues raised during his post-fight press conference.
Fans respond to in-fight ads on new Paramount deal
Viewers noticed that ads were shown during walkouts and between rounds, something that wasn’t part of the previous pay-per-view format where fans paid around $100 per event.
“I haven’t seen it yet,” White said when asked about the broadcast. “All of this is a work in progress.”
He pointed out that the new pricing model comes at a much lower cost to fans: “It’s $8.99. You’re not paying however much anymore. These guys have gotta make some money, too.”
White also spoke positively about working with Paramount and suggested adjustments could be made: “These guys are incredible to work with already. We’ll work it out.”
Dana White hands out $500,000 after UFC 324
Dana White’s new bonus scheme resulted in some big paydays after UFC 324.
Both Fight of the Night and Performance of the Night were increased from $50,000 to $100,000. On top of that, every fighter who scored a stoppage win picked up an extra $25,000.
In total, White handed out $450,000 in bonuses. The main eventers each took home $100,000 for Fight of the Night honours. Josh Hokit and Ty Miller also earned $100,000 apiece for their early prelim stoppages.
Waldo Cortes-Acosta and Nikita Krylov picked up an extra $25,000 each for their knockout victories at UFC 324.
Alex Perez won his bout by KO but missed out on a bonus because he failed to make weight on Friday.
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