“With the Benavidez fight, I agreed to it immediately and passed like more than 60 days. And I’m actually getting with this fight net more money than if I would take the other fight,” Mikaelian said. He described an old-school system in which a promoter receives the contract before informing the fighter what he will be paid. “The winner can fight Benavidez afterwards in December or in January.” Beating Opetaia would likely increase Mikaelian’s bargaining position for a future Benavidez fight.