UFC Vegas 115 has surprisingly disappointed fans. The card, headlined by Renato Moicano and Chris Duncan, delivered eight finishes in 13 bouts, yet still managed to disappoint. How can it upset the spectators? Because the promotion dropped the ball on the bonuses.
Yes, the aspect in question is the bonus rewards. Since UFC 324 earlier this year, the leading MMA promotion has revised the bonus rules. While the UFC was handing out a $50,000 additional payout for Performance of the Night (POTN) and Fight of the Night (FOTN) award winners before 2026, now they reward the fighters with $100,000.
Just last week at UFC Seattle, the executives may have been under a similar situation. Headlined by Israel Adesanya and Joe Pyfer, the card witnessed a total of nine finishes. Among them, Terrance McKinney was one name who secured an opening-round TKO win. However, when it came to the bonus reward, the promotion didn’t select him.
Instead, Joe Pyfer, Alexa Grasso, Tofiq Musayev, and Ignacio Bahamondes received the $100k bonus. And at UFC Vegas 115, the executives saw Tommy McMillen and Manolo Zecchini as deserving of the FOTN award. Meanwhile, Alice Pereira and Alessandro Costa received the POTN award for their second-round KO wins.
$100K each POTN: Alice Pereira/Alessandro Costa
$100K each FOTN: Tommy McMillen vs. Manolo Zecchini$25K each to the other fighters that got a finish*:
Renato Moicano
Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev
Ethyn Ewing
Tresean GorePost Fight Bonus History:
Alessandro Costa (3)… pic.twitter.com/D8JtfjMNZH— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) April 5, 2026
The decision may have been tough to select four out of eight fights. However, the UFC may have had its reasons for it. But in the eyes of the fans, one decision by Dana White & Co. was particularly disagreeable.
Fans call out UFC’s bonus reward decisions
While many fans felt Alice Pereira and Alessandro Costa were deserving contenders, they do not feel the same for Tommy McMillen and Manolo Zecchini as FOTN winners. As a result, the netizens jumped in to share their opinions as to who they believed were deserving.
Not just that, Tresean Gore, who came in as an underdog against Azamat Bekoev, defeated the Russian by a third-round submission. Citing the odds, a few fans felt Gore was deserving. “Gore fight was the best fight on the card,” a netizen commented.
Meanwhile, a few took note of how Manolo Zecchini would receive a $100k bonus for getting knocked out in the opening round. “Crazy that Zecchini is going to get $100K for looking like a drunk chinny uncle,” a user wrote.
Amid that, some of the fans also named the Kai Kamaka III vs. Dakota Hope fight as deserving of the FOTN award. “I had Kamaka III VS Hope as the runner up,” a netizen wrote. Both lightweights fought their heart out with a total of over 200 significant strikes, where ultimately Kamaka won via split decision.
And lastly, the fans online also named the featherweight bout between Jose Delano and Robert Ruchala as a much better fight than Tommy McMillen vs. Manolo Zecchini. “Delano vs Ruchala was a much better fight. This was just dumb slop,” a netizen commented.
So, overall, the opinion of the fans was quite subjective. Apart from McMillen vs. Zecchini, they saw at least four other fights as deserving of the FOTN. A few even argued that Sean O’Malley’s association with McMillen may have been the reason behind the bonus reward, considering how close O’Malley is to Dana White.
On that note, do you think this was a result of McMillen’s close ties with O’Malley? Let us know in the comments below!
