UFC win bonus: How much extra do fighters get paid for a spectacular performance?

The UFC has a unique system of offering handsome bonuses to its fighters as an incentive to produce exciting fights and spectacular finishes during the promotion's fight night events and pay-per-views. UFC takes the phrase 'no risk, no reward' seriously and encourages the fighters to throw caution to the wind every time they step inside the octagon.

“My focus in the UFC is to take the bonus. This guy, he loves a war and I love a war. So we’ll see.” https://t.co/vj1WngO1wI

— Rafael “Ataman” Fiziev (@RafaelFiziev) December 11, 2020

Let's take a look at how UFC fighters get paid. For every fight, the fighters get paid a base salary regardless of the outcome of the fight.

For the fighters that emerge victorious, there is a “win bonus” which is usually the same as the base salary. This also plays a significant role in motivating lesser ranked fighters to put in that extra bit of effort to make more money on fight nights.

Getting paid double for a win is always something to look forward to for fighters who make less money. However, top-ranked fighters like Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov, who make six figures regularly, do not usually get huge win bonuses.

Then comes the “fight of the night” and “performance of the night” bonuses. These bonuses offer a sum of $50,000 to fighters who produce extraordinary performances during the events. The fighters love their fight night bonuses and these are the awards that incentivize them to go out of their way to give the fans what they love to see.

An unforgettable scrap!@jackthejokermma & @MarvinVettori earn the #UFCVegas16 FOTN bonus 💰B2YB @ToyoTires pic.twitter.com/HFR3M8GLQT

— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) December 6, 2020

UFC fight of the night bonuses are usually handed to fighters who produce an exciting, back, and forth contest. The crowd usually plays a big role in determining which fighters get rewarded with the fight of the night bonuses. The reaction of the crowd to a fight is usually taken into consideration among other things like total significant strikes thrown, the number of takedowns, etc., to determine the winners.

The performance of the night bonus goes to fighters who produce amazing performances inside the octagon. A spectacular knockout or submission is what usually earns a fighter the performance of the night bonus. Sometimes, a fighter may be rewarded by the UFC with both the fight of the night as well as the performance of the night bonuses for the same fight.