Dana White promises UFC fighter pay changes after $7.7 billion deal
UFC CEO Dana White talks to MMA Junkie and other reporters about the Paramount deal, ending PPV, fighter pay, UFC 319 and more.
LAS VEGAS – UFC performance bonuses are going up.
While the full picture of how much fighters will or will not benefit from the UFC’s $7.7 billion Paramount broadcast deal remains unclear, Dana White was quick to confirm one thing Tuesday when asked.
“I’m not going to have any comments on that yet because we still have to get together and figure this stuff out,” White told MMA Junkie and other reporters Tuesday after DWCS 77. “It’s August. We have until January to figure all that stuff out. But the low-hanging fruit that’s easy to answer? Bonuses are obviously going up. That’ll be big. Forget about the tide rising with all the other fighters. Just the number that the bonuses bring to a fighter is millions of dollars.”
White did not specify how much the new bonuses will be. The Paramount deal goes in effect starting with the first event in January 2026.
Since 2013, the four performance bonuses handed out after each UFC event have steadily been $50,000 apiece with very few exceptions.
Pay-per-view points
Historically, champions have taken a percentage of the pay-per-view buy rate.
One of the biggest unknowns (at least publicly) surrounding the promoted extinction of pay-per-view events in the Paramount era is that of what will happen to pay-per-view points for its biggest stars.
“It’s not massive restructuring,” White said. “We’ve got a bunch of smart kids over there that work in the accounting department that figure out how to make all this stuff work. It’s so good for the fighters. What I loved about being with one company that made such a big investment in us is they’re all-in with us.
“So the fighters are going to get tons of promotion, built by all these different, unbelievable networks that these guys own. These are aggressive smart guys that are going to build a big media company.”
