How generous is the UFC with discretionary bonuses? Dana White peels back the curtain.

How many times do you find out the $50,000 “Fight of the Night” and “Performance of the Night” bonus winners after a UFC event and think to yourself, I can’t believe (this person) didn’t get one. It happens often, doesn’t it?

Fear not, though. Discretionary bonuses are real – even if fighters never talk about them.

In an interview with the New York Post, UFC president White peeled back the curtain and revealed that the UFC pays discretionary bonuses ranging from $4,000-$25,000 to “everybody who delivered on the card” outside of the traditional winners, which is based on White’s assessment of the night’s action.

“I’ll give you an example,” White said. “There will be a night where some crazy sh*t happens throughout the whole card, and then we have to pick what we thought (were) the $50,000 (bonus recipients), but somebody else was right in the running. They could have got it too. And it depends, I’ll write them anywhere from $10,000 to $25,000.”

But what does that mean as far as the UFC’s generosity with those discretionary bonuses? As the Post calculated, the UFC gave out $8.4 million worth of “FOTN” and “POTN” bonuses among its 41 events in 2020. The UFC said the total amount of bonus money it paid fighters last year reached $13 million. Which means the discretionary bonuses would’ve accounted for $4.6 million.

Assuming all of that is true, at least now I don’t have to feel so bad for the fighter with an amazing knockout on a night of amazing knockouts who gets left out. Chances are decent that he or she received something extra for their efforts.

The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.