All UFC fight-night bonuses now capped at $50,000

MONTREAL – All of the UFC traditional fight-night bonuses – for “Knockout of the Night,” “Submission of the Night” and “Fight of the Night” – now will result in checks for $50,000.

That’s the word from UFC President Dana White, who confirmed the recent $50,000 awards will be the standard amount. That includes this weekend’s UFC 158 event at Montreal’s Bell Centre.

“The bonuses are $50,000 now, so I don’t have to say it anymore,” White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “Nobody ever complained about (the amounts). The bonuses are a gift – so it’s like someone getting a Christmas present and saying, ‘I didn’t want this, I wanted a f—ing car.’ It was fair to keep them straight all the way across so no matter what card you fight on, it’s the same bonus.”

The UFC often fluctuated the amounts for the awards, which recognize each event’s best knockout and submission. Two fighters also get “Fight of the Night” awards. UFC officials, including White and UFC matchmakers Joe Silva and Sean Shelby, select the winners.

However, competitors on pay-per-view cards often made substantially more than those on smaller UFC events such as the UFC on FX and UFC on FUEL TV series. For example, the UFC handed out record $129,000 bonuses at the big UFC 129 stadium show in 2011. However, two events later, the bonuses at The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale were worth just $40,000. (The UFC occasionally awarded even bigger amounts for some individual fights, including one in 2011 between Diego Sanchez and Martin Kampmann that netted each competitior $160,000 “Fight of the Night” checks.)

However, for the past five events, beginning with the year-opening UFC on FOX 6 card, all bonuses have been worth $50,000. That’ll continue through the rest of the year, according to White. However, he also noted that exceptions still could be made in some circumstances.

The average base bonus amount in 2012 was $55,322.

White did leave the door open to change the amounts as he sees fit. For example, at historic events UFC 100 in Las Vegas and the promotion’s first stadium show, UFC 129 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, the UFC upped the ante. UFC 100 featured, appropriately, bonuses of $100,000, and UFC 129 had checks handed out for $129,000. White said it’s possible for situations like that to occur down the road.

“I get crazy sometimes,” he said. “Yeah – I can get as crazy as I want to get, but it’s fair to keep them all $50,000 so if you’re on a FUEL card, if you’re a pay-per-view card, a ‘Fight Night’ card, it’s all the same.”

Currently, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and veteran lightweight Joe Lauzon have earned the most disclosed fight-night bonuses (12). Recent retiree Chris Lytle also picked up 10 during his lengthy UFC career, which netted him $515,000 in extra pay.

For more on UFC 158, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Anderson Silva)