The fighters in action on the historic UFC White House card will be entitled to never-before-seen bonuses, it has been confirmed.
The MMA promotion will break new ground on June 14 when it stages the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States.
The event takes place on Donald Trump's 80th birthday and will take place on the South Lawn at the White House, with limited capacity and members of the military being gifted tickets.
The stacked card is headlined by Ilia Topuria's lightweight title defence against Justin Gaethje, with Alex Pereira aiming to become a three-weight world champion in his interim heavyweight title fight with Ciryl Gane.
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A total of 14 fighters will be in action across seven fights and on Saturday night at UFC 327, an all-new incentive was announced.
During the broadcast, commentator Jon Anik said a further $1 million in post-fight bonuses will be on the table.
UFC president Dana White will still hand out the mandatory Fight of the Night and Performance bonuses after the show but selected fighters will also get a piece of the staggering bonus pool, which is being paid out by sponsor Crypto.com to mark their 10-year anniversary.
UFC White House card in full:
- Ilia Topuria vs Justin Gaethje
- Alex Pereira vs Ciryl Gane
- Sean O'Malley vs Aiemann Zahabi
- Mauricio Ruffy vs Michael Chandler
- Bo Nickal vs Kyle Daukaus
- Diego Lopes vs Steve Garcia
- Derrick Lewis vs Josh Hokit
The amount will be paid in the CRO cryptocurrency, at around 14.4 million, with further details on how fighters can receive a chunk of the "largest bonus in UFC history".
UFC's performance bonuses were doubled to $100,000 off the back of the $7.7 billion broadcast deal with Paramount being signed.
Seventh fight added to UFC White House card after Donald Trump demand
The White House spectacle was supposed to feature a total of six fights but another was added after intervention from President Donald Trump. In attendance at UFC 327 in Miami, Trump asked why Derrick Lewis was not on the card.
Lewis is Trump's favourite fighter and so White immediately got to work, calling 'the Black Beast' from the event and setting up a bout with Josh Hokit - fresh from his impressive win over Curtis Blaydes at the Kaseya Center.
"I'm sure you guys just saw the Hokit fight, right?" White said on a livestream.
"About an hour ago, the president leans over to me and he says, 'Why is Derrick Lewis not on the White House card?' I said, 'Hold on a second Mr. President. I step away and I call Derrick Lewis. I said, 'Derrick, the president just asked me why you're not on the card - do you want to the fight on the White House card?'.
"He goes, 'Of course I do, tell the president thank you I want to do it. Then the Hokit fight plays out. He beats the No.5 ranked guy in the world and Joe Rogan says, 'Is there still room on the White House card?'.
"We went back and talked to him. Hokit vs Derrick Lewis was just added to the White House card."
Topics: Dana White, Donald Trump
Josh Lawless