UFC's Dana White Awards Fighter Win Bonus Despite Loss

By Jay Anderson /

There's a silver lining in last Saturday's main card loss of fighter Ross Pearson. As the fallout from UFC Fight Night 42 continues - Jason High being cut from the UFC for shoving a ref, questions surrounding drug testing and judging, and a supposed fish hook by Bryan Caraway that was not caught on camera - the UFC has stepped in to right at least one wrong. According to a report on UFC.com, the promotion will pay co-main event fighter Ross Pearson his win bonus, despite having lost the match. Pearson lost a controversial decision to Diego Sanchez at the event, with judges seeing the bout 30-27 and 29-28 for Sanchez, while a single judge watched the same fight the rest of the world did, scoring a 30-27 for Pearson. In a statement to UFC.com, UFC President Dana White had some harsh words for the judge in question: "Diego lost that fight. The judge who judged that fight should never be judging fights again." He continued on to question how the judge could give Sanchez a round in which he was knocked down by Pearson, finishing by saying "That's as bad as it gets." Pearson picks up $30,000 in win money as a result of this move.