Mailbag: Where did all UFC night fighting bonuses have gone?

Alexander Volkanovski has a rare chance to resume a UFC title after two consecutive defeats, but age is a question for the former 36 -year -old champion. (Photo of Jeff Bottari / Zuffa LLC)

(Jeff Bottari via Getty Images)

What happened to all the “Fight of the Night” bonuses during the recent UFC events? Can Alexander Volkanovski reconquer the UFC title and prove that fighters over 35 years old can still be champions? And how many old guys, Chase Hooper, will he fight, anyway?

All this and more in this week's mailbag column. To ask your own question, hit @benfowlkesmma Or @ benfowlkes.bsky.social.

@ Sentientlife4O1: In your opinion, what do you think that the UFC does not give a night fight during its last 4 events? Do you think they eliminate them or have the fights really been this dull?

It's a strange choice, right? If the leaders of TKO have decided to undo this bonus for combat events (payment by opinion has always obtained them, although we will have to wait and see on UFC 314 on Saturday), they should say it and explain the decision. Otherwise, it seems that even people who direct these events do not think that there are good fights on them. It is not a great look.

One thing that the premiums “Fight of the Night” are good is to send a message to the fans who could have skipped this event. They can look at the results of the bonus and see immediately which fight is probably worth catching up. And as there are so many nights of fighting, it is the events that are most likely to be ignored by many fans. Why send the message that none of these fights is worth watching anyway?

I refuse to believe that it is just that there have been good fights for four consecutive events. After looking at them, I'm sure I saw fights that were, at worst, quite good overall. Even thus, “Fight of the Night” is a relative term! It should not be the best fight of all time. It must be the best fight for this event.

If we prioritize the finishes and individual performance on collective efforts, simply change it into a standard arrival bonus and finish it. But don't do it either, because “Fight of the Night” serves a real goal.

@ Beastin364: If Volk wins, can we finally stop saying that featherweights of more than 35 are washed?

First of all, it was not only feather weights that fought in the title of the UFC is fighting after the age of 35. It is essentially all the fighters of 170 pounds and less. Second, I would say that the loss of a fight for the title does not automatically mean “washed” of anyone. This term should be reserved for guys who can no longer beat even intermediate level contenders – not guys who are not below the best.

However, the situation of Alexander Volkanovski is a little different. On the one hand, he was a few months before his 35th birthday when he beat Yair Rodriguez. On the other hand, its two recent losses both come with certain warnings. The first was when he gained weight in extremely short notice and was eliminated by the best light weight in the world. The second was when he came back from this ko blow too early and was knocked out by the best featherweight in the world.

I am not trying to apologize for man, but these two fights alone do not really tell us where he is. At the same time, nothing in this situation is normal. Most ex-champs with two consecutive losses do not receive a title shot. And if they do, it usually comes against a reigning champion – not a competitor who is technically below them in the ranking.

It's weird, in other words. But I think it probably promotes Volkanovski. It is in a way the best case for him and probably the best chance that he will have another reign of UFC title.

@REALFAKESAMDUNN: What is the best scenario for the future of the UFC featherweight division? The Leyenda goes up, Max too, Pitbull is there but it is old, Volk is either at the end of its peak or it is completely passed, etc.

Is it inevitable that the overall level of 145 talents simply drops?

Of all the weight classes, I am worried about the future of the featherweight the least. There are a lot of good fighters in this weight range all over the world. We have just seen some of them in the main event of the Apex card on Saturday. We will see more (finally, Jean Silva at least) on the UFC 314 sub-card. And even if sometimes the fighters will go up, they could also go down when they discover that light weights are larger and stronger than they thought.

The world has many good athletes around this size. The good news for MMA is that most of the rest of the world of professional sports has little use. The UFC is not in competition with the NFL for talents here as it is in the heavy goods vehicle or light heavy goods vehicles. There may be flows and flows, as for all divisions, but there will always be some vouchers of 145 pounds somewhere.

@ Itkanoli31520: a) Does the UFC grop him by making the beginnings of Aaron Pico on a random Apex card, and probably not even the main event? He could be accelerated for the pretender, why not give him a platform? and b) What are some of your favorite combat sports books? Fiction and non-fiction?

Right now, there was No official confirmation of the UFC on the first fight of Aaron Pico. But we know by past experience that the UFC sometimes likes to take new signatories from other organizations and scratch them a little for, I do not know, prove its domination in the MMA or something else.

The thing is that fighting a guy like Movsar Evloev could absolutely be a quick way to conclude – if Pico wins. Evloev is a featherweight among the first five at the moment. You beat this guy when you start and it really sends a message. Having to send this message to apex, however, would be a kind of waste.

@Jedkmeshew: Do you think that Chase Hooper is angry with his father and that is why he continues to fight the old ones? Instead of black shirts and emo music, he chose to fight father's attorney in the octagon?

To be honest, I appreciate what the UFC does with some of these Chase Hooper matches. What do you do with a fighter who is 25 but looks 16? Give him an opponent with gray in his beard. In this match with Jim Miller, 41, it works not only visually but also stylistically.

Young Weirdo grapple against the district submission artist who seems to warm up by mowing the lawn in an old pair of stained green asics? Yes please. I really want to see how it goes. I am also a little amazed that Miller is so high 8-1 Underdog in Betmgm. Have we completely forgotten the phenomenon known as the Force of old man?!?

@Worldsworsthero: What was the first moment of your life that made you as “Damn, I'm old!”? And how old was you when this moment happened? Lol

You know how you will fall asleep and think you fall or something and you awaken? I injured myself by doing this once. As I injured myself and needed a few days to recover. So it was quite sober.

Now, I am at the age when my children regularly talk about pop stars and celebrities that seem frankly completely fictitious. These people just can't be real. It looks like a new and even more alienating phase to be completely old. At least it is peaceful. I hear about Doja Cat or anyone, and I know it's just not my things.

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