After a year of working together to find new revenue streams, the UFC and Crypto.com have begun awarding bonuses to UFC fighters after each pay-per-view event.
Crypto.com distributed its first set of bonuses to UFC combatants at UFC 273 a couple of weeks ago.
The “Fan Bonus of the Night” was introduced for the first time at the event, with Khamzat Chimaev, Alexander Volkanovski, and Petr Yan becoming the first three fighters to receive a Crypto.com payout.
How it works
In July of last year, Crypto.com struck an alliance with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC, making the platform the first-ever official cryptocurrency platform partner for UFC in an effort to generate new revenue streams for UFC athletes.
The new category is called “Fan Bonus of the Night,” and it will be decided by the fans following each UFC Pay-Per-View event.
According to a company release, Pay-Per-View events will be followed by fan voting from around the world. Three bitcoin bonuses will be granted to the top three fighters in the tournament based on these votes.
According to Crypto.com, the bitcoin payments will be $30,000 (about Rs 22.75 lakh) for first place, $20,000 (approximately Rs 15 lakh) for second place, and US$10,000 (approximately Rs 7.5 lakh) for third place.
The bonuses will be paid in bitcoin (BTC) at the current US dollar exchange rate.
Voting for the Fan Bonus of the Night will take place on Crypto.com and will be open to all users worldwide.
Each fan will receive three votes every Pay-Per-View event and will be allowed to vote for two combatants in each bout. The voting period will begin with each Pay-Per-View prelim and expire one hour after the event concludes.
Comments about this collaboration
“Crypto.com has been an official UFC partner for less than a year, and I’m telling you they are already one of the best partners we’ve ever had,” UFC president, Dana White, said in a statement.
He added, “[Crypto.com is] constantly coming up with new ideas about how we can work together to connect with the fans. This new Fan Bonus of the Night is an awesome way to get fans more engaged in our events while rewarding the fighters for bad-ass performances.”
Crypto.com’s chief marketing officer, Steven Kalifowitz, said on the plans, “Central to our partnership with UFC is creating the most unique and compelling ways for fans to connect with the sport and their favorite athletes,”
