LAS VEGAS – When Bruno Silva heard the UFC’s bonuses were doubling in size, something else on him doubled in size.
His eyes, pervs. His eyes. Get your minds out of the gutter. His eyes doubled in size, because he — proverbially speaking, of course – turned into a cartoon version of himself with the thought of bringing home a check for $100,000 instead of $50K.
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“My eyes were like – you know when they have two hearts in your eyes? That’s what I was feeling,” Silva said at the Wednesday news conference for UFC Fight Night 269 (Paramount+). “Now is my time. I needed to get the $50(K) one, and now it’s $100K. It’s even more exciting for sure.”
It’s hard to blame Silva (15-7-2 MMA, 3-4 UFC) for thinking about post-fight bonus awards ahead of his flyweight main card opener against Charles Johnson (18-8 MMA, 7-6 UFC) on Saturday at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas. The 35-year-old Brazilian just a few years back won bonuses in four straight fights.
For one of those wins, against Tyson Nam in 2023, he held up a paper sign in the cage afterward that lobbied UFC CEO Dana White for a bonus increase from $50,000 to $75,000 – which Tony Ferguson had done verbally two years prior, successfully. So he really is no stranger to the bonus situation.
But it’s been nearly two years since his last one. Since then, he’s dropped fights to Manel Kape and new flyweight champ Joshua Van, though he rebounded this past October with a knockout of Hyun Sung Park.
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Silva is a slight underdog against Johnson on Saturday, but has a plan to continue righting the ship after his brief skid. Johnson is a replacement opponent after Lone’er Kavanagh was pulled to fight Brandon Moreno in Mexico two weeks ago, where he pulled a short-notice upset.
And Silva knows Johnson is no slouch. Two of his past three wins have been bonus-winning stoppages of Van before his rise to champion and Kavanagh – who put himself in the heart of the title picture at 125 pounds with his win over Moreno.
“This guy likes to fight – he takes no breaks,” Silva said of Johnson. “He’s a really good fighter – dangerous, very athletic. He’s already finished the champ, Van, Lone’er, the guy who just beat Brandon Moreno. So he’s very dangerous. We have to respect the guy – he’s a veteran.
But I also like the guy. He’s funny, weird hair. I’m just a fan. … Let’s go, man.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Bruno Silva got cartoon heart eyes for UFC’s new $100,000 bonuses
