Junior Do Santos is not feeling the baddest man on the planet, “Iron” Mike Tyson.
The former UFC heavyweight champion, who had an excellent run for the championship from 2008-2012, came up in the era of multiple performance-based bonuses.
Bonus Life
The UFC issues a Performance of the Night bonus to the athletes who put on the best and most exciting individual performances. However, during Dos Santos’ prime, there were extra bonuses like Submission of the Night and the Knockout of the Night.
At $50,000, for every UFC fighter specializing in finishing their opponents, the now-discontinued bonus amounts are truly missed.
Just ask Junior Dos Santos, who felt that Mike Tyson, intentionally or unintentionally, stopped him from attaining one of his bonuses.
“Back in the day, Mike Tyson took from me $50,000 because of Dana White!” said Dos Santos to The Sun.
“When I fought Mark Hunt, I had two Bonuses of the Night — Best Fight of the Night and Best Knockout of the Night, and Mike Tyson was there watching the fight, and at the press conference after the fights, Dana White said, ‘Junior Dos Santos has won two bonuses of the night. Best Fight of the Night, and Best Knockout of the Night.’
“But I was asking Mike Tyson, and he told me to give the Knockout of the Night to somebody else!”
Mike Tyson is definitely an influencer, but using his power of persuasion to subvert some paper from Dos Santos’ pocket?
“He said, ‘Why give two bonuses to just one guy?’ So he took away from me $50,000. So he owes me $50,000! He deprived me of that. But it was normal back then to have two bonuses on the night, and sometimes some guys got three!”
To find out more about Dos Santos’ claim that Mike Tyson owes him $50K and how he plans to recoup his money from Iron Mike, click here.
