Newly minted interim lightweight champion Justin Gaethje was one of the biggest winners of the night in stature and compensation.
Not only did Gaethje add a belt to his collection, but he took home two $50,000 performance bonuses for his brutal fifth-round TKO of Tony Ferguson in the main event of UFC 249.
The promotion announced the full list of bonus recipients after the pay-per-view event on Saturday at VyStar Veteran’s Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. The main card streamed on ESPN+.
Ferguson, whose insane 12-fight win streak ended at the door of a title shot, also took home a $50,000 bonus as one half of the “Fight of the Night” with Gaethje. The other “Performance of the Night” bonus went to Francis Ngannou, who needed just 20 seconds to obliterate Jairzinho Rozenstruik on the main card.
Gaethje has now won performance bonuses in seven of his nine octagon appearances.
UFC 249 performance bonuses:
Fight of the Night: Justin Gaethje, Tony Ferguson
Performance of the Night: Justin Gaethje, Francis Ngannou