The UFC should absolutely implement an ‘Activity’ bonus for fighters.

Dana has made it quite obvious that the UFC heavily favours active fighters and those willing to step up/in. That being said he’s also made it obvious that he doesn’t like when fighters choose to sit out in the guise of ‘we’ll move on without them’ when they clearly want that specific fight but will settle for someone cheaper (ie Nganou/Lewis over Nganou/Jones because of $).

Now I’m not advocating that fighters shouldn’t do what they feel is right, but I feel like a win-win for everyone would be to implement a multi-tiered bonus system for fighter acitivty per year. We all know each contract involves the must have 3-fight offer clause, but if they incentivized it with a pay bonus multiplier – I guarentee more fighters would fight more often, especially high ranked fighters who aren’t super popular.

Here is a rough example:

Fighter A (#12 Ranked In Division)

First Fight Of 2021:

• Pay To Show – 125,000$
• Pay to Win – 125,000$
• Standard Bonuses Apply (perf. of the night, sub/ko, etc)
• No Activity Bonus

Second Fight Of 2021:

• Pay To Show – 125,000$
• Pay to Win – 125,000$
• Standard Bonuses Apply (perf. of the night, sub/ko, etc)
• 2nd Fight Activity Bonus +50,000$

Third Fight Of 2021:

• Pay To Show – 125,000$
• Pay to Win – 125,000$
• Standard Bonuses Apply (perf. of the night, sub/ko, etc)
• 3rd Fight Activity Bonus +75,000$

Fourth Fight Of 2021:

• Pay To Show – 125,000$
• Pay to Win – 125,000$
• Standard Bonuses Apply (perf. of the night, sub/ko, etc)
• 4th Fight Activity Bonus +100,000$

Fifth Fight Of 2021:

• Pay To Show – 125,000$
• Pay to Win – 125,000$
• Standard Bonuses Apply (perf. of the night, sub/ko, etc)
• 5th Fight Activity Bonus +125,000$

(Activity bonus capped after the 3rd fight would be more likely but you get the idea).

This way fighters would be more incentivized ro fight when they can, fight down the rankings, step in on short notice, take riskier fights, etc – simply due to the fact that the sting of losing is softened from the extra chunk of money rewarded for staying active. I’m honestly shocked they haven’t done this already.