Fight of the Night

What is Fight of the Night?

Fight of the Night, often shortened to FOTN, is one of two standard post-fight bonuses the UFC hands out after most events. It rewards the single bout that entertained the most, and unlike almost everything else in the sport, it goes to two fighters at once: the winner and the loser both collect the same check.

That last part trips up a lot of newer fans. A fighter can lose a decision and still walk away with a Fight of the Night bonus, because the award is about the quality of the scrap, not the result. What matters is how competitive and dramatic the fight was, not who got their hand raised.

The bonus is discretionary, which means there is no scoring formula behind it. UFC leadership decides after the event, and the amount has changed over the years. For most of the last decade it sat at $50,000 per fighter, according to Wikipedia’s record of UFC bonus awards, before a series of increases in 2026 pushed it much higher.

How Fight of the Night is chosen

There is no committee vote and no public criteria sheet. UFC executives review the card after the fights are done and pick the bout they felt was the best of the evening. For years that decision was driven by CEO Dana White, who typically announces the winners at the post-fight press conference, and the UFC then posts the results on its website.

The kind of fight that tends to win is easy to recognize once you know what to look for. Back-and-forth wars, big momentum swings, a fighter surviving near-finishes to rally, or two strikers trading until the final horn all fit the profile. A one-sided beating or a quick, clean finish usually does not, even when it is spectacular, because those tend to be rewarded under the other bonus instead.

Because the choice is subjective, it draws debate. An undercard fight can beat out the main event for the honor, and fans and fighters regularly argue that a deserving bout got passed over. The UFC has occasionally handed out more than one Fight of the Night, or none at all, depending on how the card played out.

Fight of the Night vs Performance of the Night

Most confusion around the term comes from mixing it up with Performance of the Night, the UFC’s other standard bonus. They reward different things.

Fight of the Night is tied to a bout and splits between the two people in it. Performance of the Night is an individual award, given to a fighter for a standout showing on their own, usually a highlight knockout or a slick submission. Performance of the Night replaced two older awards, Knockout of the Night and Submission of the Night, when the UFC restructured its bonuses on February 11, 2014, per Wikipedia.

A single event normally produces one Fight of the Night (two checks) and two Performance of the Night awards (two checks), for four bonuses total. Here is how the two compare:

Feature	Fight of the Night	Performance of the Night
Who wins it	Both fighters in one bout	One individual fighter
Typical number per card	1 bout (2 fighters)	2 fighters
What it rewards	The most exciting fight overall	A standout individual finish or performance
Depends on winning?	No, losers can win it too	Almost always goes to a winner
Replaced older awards?	No, it predates the change	Yes, replaced Knockout and Submission of the Night in 2014

A useful shortcut: if the highlight was a fight, it is Fight of the Night. If the highlight was one person, it is Performance of the Night.

How much is the Fight of the Night bonus?

The number has moved a lot, especially recently. Early UFC bonuses were smaller, with fighters earning $25,000 for Fight of the Night at events like UFC Fight Night 14 in 2008, as Sports Illustrated reported at the time. The award later settled at a $50,000 standard that held for years.

On marquee cards the UFC would bump the figure up. Fighters took home $75,000 at UFC 262 in 2021 after Tony Ferguson lobbied for a raise that week, per CBS Sports, and the promotion went all the way to $300,000 per bonus to mark UFC 300 in April 2024, according to ESPN.

Then came a structural change. Starting with UFC 324 in January 2026, the UFC doubled its standard bonuses from $50,000 to $100,000 and added a new $25,000 payout for any fighter who scores a finish but misses out on one of the four headline awards, ESPN reported. Months later, at the UFC Freedom 250 card on the White House lawn in June 2026, the promotion paid the largest fight-night bonuses in its history: $400,000 to each Fight of the Night participant and $425,000 for the top individual performances, funded by sponsors, according to ESPN.

Era or event	Fight of the Night amount (per fighter)
Early events (e.g. 2008)	$25,000
Longtime standard (through 2025)	$50,000
UFC 262 (2021)	$75,000
UFC 300 (April 2024)	$300,000
New standard from UFC 324 (January 2026)	$100,000
UFC Freedom 250, White House (June 2026)	$400,000

For fighters near the bottom of the pay scale, the bonus can dwarf their contracted purse, which is a large part of why the award exists: it pushes everyone on the card to take risks.

Who has won the most Fight of the Night bonuses?

This is where records get misreported. Charles Oliveira holds the UFC record for most post-fight bonuses overall with 21, but only four of those are Fight of the Night; the rest are Performance and Submission awards, according to UFC.com. The Fight of the Night list looks different.

Justin Gaethje holds the specific Fight of the Night record with 11, a mark he set at the White House event in June 2026 when he broke a tie with Dustin Poirier and Edson Barboza, who sit on 10 each, per Heavy and Fight Matrix. Gaethje’s style, all pressure and firefights, is exactly the sort that keeps landing in the bonus conversation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do both fighters get the Fight of the Night bonus if one of them loses?

Yes. The award goes to both athletes in the bout regardless of the result, so a fighter can lose the fight and still earn the same bonus as the winner.

Is Fight of the Night only a UFC thing?

The concept appears across combat sports, and other promotions such as Bellator and ONE Championship have used similar awards, but the term is most strongly tied to the UFC and its post-fight bonus structure.

Does a knockout or submission guarantee a Fight of the Night bonus?

No. Clean finishes are usually recognized with Performance of the Night. Fight of the Night more often goes to a competitive, action-heavy bout that may even end in a decision.

How is Fight of the Night different from the main event?

Card position has nothing to do with it. The main event is simply the last and most heavily promoted fight, while Fight of the Night can be any bout on the card, including an early prelim.

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Sources

1. ESPN. “UFC doubles fight night bonuses, adds incentive for every finish.” Accessed August 2026.
   https://www.espn.com/mma/story//id/47714388/ufc-doubles-fight-night-bonuses-adds-incentive-every-finish
2. ESPN. “UFC to award record fight night bonuses at White House event.” Accessed August 2026.
   https://www.espn.com/mma/story//id/49046865/ufc-award-record-fight-night-bonuses-white-house-event
3. CBS Sports. “UFC 262 winners, payouts.” Accessed August 2026.
   https://www.cbssports.com/mma/news/ufc-262-winners-payouts-charles-oliveira-edson-barboza-earn-75000-in-performance-of-the-night-bonuses
4. Wikipedia. “List of UFC bonus award recipients.” Accessed August 2026.
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UFC_bonus_award_recipients
5. UFC.com. “Main Event By The Numbers: UFC 326.” Accessed August 2026.
   https://www.ufc.com/news/main-event-numbers-ufc-326-holloway-vs-oliveira-2
6. Heavy. “Justin Gaethje Sets New UFC Record.” Accessed August 2026.
   https://heavy.com/sports/ufc/justin-gaethje-sets-new-ufc-record-white-house/
7. Fight Matrix. “Fights of the Night.” Accessed August 2026.
   https://www.fightmatrix.com/ufc-records/fights-of-the-night/
8. Sports Illustrated. “UFC announces Fight Night 14 bonuses.” Accessed August 2026.
   https://www.si.com/mma/2008/07/21/ufn14-bonuses

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