Francis Ngannou seemed to give his $100,000 performance bonus to Philipe Lins on Saturday, after knocking out the Brazilian in the first round.
Ngannou faced Lins on the undercard of Ronda Rousey’s comeback to mixed martial arts, before she submitted fellow icon Gina Carano in 17 seconds.
And while Ngannou did not make such light work of Lins, he still secured a first-round stoppage, knocking out Lins with a huge left hook late in round one.
Ngannou, 39, refused to add a follow-up shot on the downed 41-year-old, and that mercy seemingly gave way to generosity, too.
At the post-fight press conference for the event, which streamed live on Netflix and was organised by Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions (MVP), Ngannou said: “I mean, I think… Even though I believe that he was promoted [fairly well], I think that he’s been underestimated.
“I saw people, a lot of people, counted him out. And the guy that I faced tonight… of course I won, but he was tough. He could eat some punch[es].
“I think he has an opening, he has a spot. If he has a fight [with] some other guy, he can make a good statement.
“By the way, he’s the guy… I think he’s the guy that deserved the performance of the night [bonus], so maybe we should give the performance of the night to Philipe Lins.”
Those present in the room applauded Ngannou at this point, and when footage of the Cameroonian’s speech was shared on Instagram by Uncrowned, Lins wrote in the comments: “Thank you Francis.”
Per Uncrowned, former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou earned $1.5m for fighting Lins – a former PFL champion – who reportedly earned $100,000. These figures were disclosed to the publication by the California State Athletic Commission.
So, with Ngannou’s apparent monetary gift, Lins’s pay might have doubled.
Before Saturday’s event, MVP executive Nakisa Bidarian claimed that the base pay for every fighter would be $40,000, and that every athlete had a bonus incentive.
In the UFC, most athletes have show-and-win contracts, meaning they are paid a certain amount to compete and that figure is doubled if they win. On top of that, a Fight of the Night bonus is available, as are Performance of the Night bonuses for impressive stoppages.
Ngannou left the UFC over a pay dispute in early 2023, vacating his heavyweight title in the process. He and UFC president Dana White have feuded ever since, and White even took to Instagram Live on Saturday to announce Conor McGregor’s comeback during Ngannou’s walkout.
