“If we talk about expectations, this fight fully met them,” the organization’s head said at a press conference in Sydney. “Tuivasa fought a real monster with a huge advantage in arm span and knockout power. The size difference was huge, but Tai showed a hell of a fight tonight.”
White also responded to a question about why the Russian, who became the third fighter in the organization’s history to finish a fight with an Ezekiel choke, did not receive a tournament performance bonus.
“Yes, there were a lot of bright endings and it was hard to single out someone. We made that decision.”
After the fight, which was the second most important event of UFC 293, Alexander Volkov expressed his bewilderment at not receiving a tournament bonus and also stated that in his next fight he would like to take a rematch against Briton Tom Aspinall, who inflicted his last defeat on him.