Julian Erosa's been in the UFC long enough to have a few things figured out.
Very few people in UFC history have walked away with double bonuses, regardless of how they came, but he's one of them. He's experienced that ultra-high on the bonus spectrum.
And he's also had more than his fair share of wins that he figured an extra check was a sure thing, only to be unceremoniously snubbed.
More than six years and 15 fights into his UFC career, Erosa (30-11 MMA, 8-7 UFC) said he knows better than to buy into the hype of saying his upcoming UFC 314 matchup against longtime UFC featherweight grinder Darren Elkins (29-11 MMA, 19-10 UFC) is one of those that has the ol' "Fight of the Night written all over it" bouts.
But when he was first coming into the promotion, paychecks were thinner – and the temptation was greater.
"When I first got into the UFC and you're making ($10,000 to show and $10,000 to win), when you take a $50,000 bonus, you're like, 'Holy sh*t – that's five times as much as I would make compared to my win money,'" Erosa told MMA Junkie Radio. "So I was thinking about it quite a bit – especially coming off the the regional scene. I was doing really well (before I got to the UFC) – I was knocking people out, I was submitting a lot of people, I was having exciting fights. 'My style is tailor-made to get bonuses. All I've got to do is just do what I'm doing on the regional show in the UFC.'"
The result wasn't good. After he got in with a knockout of Jamall Emmers on DWCS in 2018, he lost his first three UFC fights. He got bounced out of the promotion, but came back during COVID as a late fill-in and pulled off a major upset submission of Sean Woodson.
After that, was when he learned those bonuses can't be counted on.
"When you're thinking about other things, like external variables like bonuses that you have no control over, it can get in the way of what you're (supposed to be) focused on," Erosa said. "For me, early on, it was a detriment to me winning fights, because first you've got to win a fight. Then if you get a bonus, it's a cherry on top.
"... I did a jumping-knee knockout of Nate Landwehr – I didn't get a bonus. I did a D'Arce choke on Charles Jourdain and didn't get a bonus. Two guillotine (chokes) in my last two fights – no bonuses. I've been lucky that I got a double bonus against (Steven) Peterson (because Peterson missed weight), and Woodson, as well. I've just gotten past it. If I get a bonus, that's the cherry on top. I just want to go in there and win my fight, focus on that. And if you can get something extra, that's great."
Another thing Erosa said he's gotten a handle on is that bonuses might not always go to the most worthy recipients – at least based on general consensus metrics, given bonus worthiness is a subjective conversation.
And in Miami at UFC 314 on April 12, there are fighters up and down the card who could snag one of the four coveted extra checks just on account of ...
