Saturday night’s UFC 324 card will be the MMA promotion’s first of 2026, and the first at Paramount, its new broadcast location. There has been a lot of speculation ahead of the event about whether the bonuses it awards its fighters for their performances would increase.
It turns out they will, to a significant degree.
Until now, the UFC’s standard bonuses have been worth $50,000. Typically, the promotion has awarded four bonuses per card: two for each fighter involved in the Fight of the Night, and two Performance of the Night bonuses for the card’s most impressive winners.
Starting with UFC 324, that figure will double – so fighters will now receive $100,000 instead of $50,000 when they earn a bonus (via Sports business magazine).
UFC doubles bonuses – and rewards finishes
The new $100,000 bonuses aren’t the only change the UFC is making.
UFC officially increases its bonuses:
Per SBJ the bonuses increase from 50k to 100k. So up from 200,000 per night to 400,000 (2 performance winners + 2 ‘fight of the night’ winners).
Furthermore, anyone who does not win a “of the night” bonus but stops their opponent…
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 24, 2026
The promotion will also reward $25,000 for each fighter who scores a finish but does not receive a traditional bonus. The hope, of course, is that this will encourage fighters to be more aggressive and rely less on stalling tactics and control time.
Saturday’s UFC 324 card is headlined by an interim lightweight title fight between Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett. In the co-headliner, Sean O’Malley will fight Song Yadong at bantamweight. The card also features a heavyweight bout between Derrick Lewis and Waldo Cortes-Acosta. The main card is kicked off by a flyweight bout between Rose Namajunas and Natalia Silva, and a featherweight bout between Arnold Allen and Jean Silva.
Expect plenty of finishes and impressive performances and plenty more money to be won.
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