“I lowballed them on purpose…the first offer knowing they would turn it down,” read a contentious email from Chief Operating Officer of UFC Lawrence Epstein to Dana White surfaced last year in December, intensifying calls against the promotion’s controversial methods. After a decade long lawsuit that exposed the “dubious” methods that White had taken up to maintain a monopoly over competitors, 2024 served a different story. One that was imbued with benevolence, and compassion. Meaning?

Dana White and Co. celebrated Christmas throughout the year, starting with an impulsive bonus increase at UFC 300—after MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn suggested it—from $50,000 to $300,000! However, he swiftly backtracked, realizing a hard truth…

White committed the same mistake ahead of the UFC 304—he hastily increased bonuses to $100,000 after King Green asked about it, only to regret it later: “I think tonight showed that we should not. Upping them doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t make anybody fight any harder. It doesn’t change anything. I’m not doing this again. Ever. Today was the last day that I’m doing that. “Not saying that in the future the bonuses couldn’t get [to increase permanently], but I’m not going to be at a press conference and say, ‘$200, $300K.’ F***ing never again. Never again. You can thank everybody on this card for that.” But one thing’s clear:

The UFC CEO is no more pinching his pockets when it comes to compensation, pushing quite some veterans to enjoy the thickest wallets at the end of 2024. And number one on the list would be…

1. Alex Pereira

2024 was a pretty dominant year for the 37-year0old. He showed why he’s called the man with the hands of stone with his first light heavyweight title defense against Jamahal Hill at UFC 300. The Brazilian received a base salary of $1.2 million. Adding the estimated PPV payout of $1.6 million, a performance bonus of $100,000, and brand sponsorships of $42,000, Pereira’s total payout for UFC 300 was $2,942,000. 

But that wasn’t the only battle Alex Pereira fought. After Conor McGregor pulled out of UFC 303 because of a broken pinky toe, the ‘Poatan’ swooped in to save the event on short notice, and battled against Jiri Prochazka for the second time. It was the biggest win for the Brazilian as he received a base pay of $3.3 million for saving the event. The PPV payout was a bit less than that of UFC 300. He got an estimated PPV payout of $200 thousand, a standard performance bonus, and another $42 thousand from brand endorsements. This was Pereira’s highest UFC payout ever, summing up to a massive $3,592,000.

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Moments like bmf justin and max knockout was priceless .Im a fan of both i hope they were happy with...more

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Pereira fought once again to defend his light heavyweight belt for the third in the same year. He fought Khalil Rountree Jr. next. And of course, it was a win by KO for ‘Poatan’. However, his payout had a dip this time. His base salary for UFC 307 was $2 million, and the PPV payout was estimated at $600K. Dana White gave him a standard performance bonus along with a win bonus of $300K. Added with $42,000 from brand sponsorships, Pereira got wallet thickened by $2,992,000.

2. Sean O’Malley

For Sean O’Malley, 2024 began with a title defense against Marlon Vera. The Montana resident won via a unanimous decision. This win opened up ‘Suga’s 2024 accounts with a base pay of $1.5 million. He also pocketed about $725K from PPV payouts. How can we forget the performance bonus and sponsorship money? All of these made O’Malley richer by $2,317,000.

But it was Noche UFC 306 which got O’Malley his highest payout of the year. UFC 306 marked the fight promotion’s debut at the Sphere, the most interactive building in the world. The visuals and cinematics that the event offered were unforgettable. And that was the event where O’Malley lost his bantamweight belt to Merab Dvalishvili. Despite the loss, O’Malley received $1.1 million through PPV payouts. After all, the tickets to the Sphere were quite expensive. O’Malley had a base salary of $3 million for the event. Topping it off with sponsorship deals worth $42K, O’Malley bagged a humongous amount of $4,142,000.

3. Jon Jones

We can certainly say that Jon Jones is the GOAT on this list, with the highest paycheck in 2024. But since he has fought only once in 2024, we’ve put him in the 3rd spot. Well, the undisputed heavyweight champion caused chaos with his first-ever heavyweight title defense. He finished his battle against Stipe Miocic with a mesmerizing spinning backkick. Having a long track record with nothing but wins got ‘Bones’ a base salary of $5 million. Shockingly high, right? 

With an estimated PPV payout of $600,000, Jones took home an amount of $6,292,000. Yes, yes, I added the performance bonus and sponsorship money to the numbers. Do you think Jones could have gotten an even bigger paycheck had he fought Tom Aspinall to unite the heavyweight belts? I think he would have, no matter the outcome.

4. Ilia Topuria

2024 was the year that saw the rise of Ilia Topuria. The Spaniard knocked Alexander Volkanovski out at UFC 298 and became the featherweight champion. Well, his salary was just $200K when the year started. With another $200K in win bonus, $50K in performance bonus, and $32K from brand endorsements, ‘El Matador’ had received only $482,000 at UFC 298. 

But UFC 308 was a different game. It was his first title defense and he fought Max Holloway, only to rise victorious once again. Topuria received more than 7 times what he had previously received. His base salary became $1.5 million, and he got another $1.5 million through a win bonus. The PPV payout was estimated at $400,000. On top of that, he bagged a performance bonus and another $42,000 from brand endorsements. Topuria’s total payout for UFC 308? It was a whopping $3,992,000.

5. Max Holloway

Needless to say, 2024 was an epic year and it was Holloway’s last-second knockout win that raised the bar. Fighting Justin Gaethje for the BMF title at UFC 300, ‘Blessed’ dropped ‘The Highlight’ with the clock reading 4:59 in the final round. He received half a million dollars for his base pay at the event. However, the PPV payout was estimated at $1.6 million. And the knockout was worthy of getting a massive $600,000 in two performance bonuses. Added to $21K in brand sponsorship money, Holloway took away $2,421,000.

As mentioned earlier, the BMF champion also got a title fight in 2024. Just like the featherweight champ, Holloway got a base salary of $1.5 million, with $400K in estimated PPV payouts. On top of that, he received $32K from the brands endorsing him, making his total payout for UFC 308 a massive $2,432,000. 

While 2024 was packed with some really cool action sequences in the Octagon, 2025 will surely bring more action. Which means, the fighters will receive more money than ever. This time, it was Jon Jones who got the highest pay. But do you have any predictions for the upcoming year? If you do, drop down to the comments below and let us know your thoughts.