UFC 324 takes place this Saturday in Las Vegas with Justin Gaethje headlining against Paddy Pimblett. Eyebrows were raised when Gaethje spoke up about the fact his pay hasn’t increased since the new $7.7B UFC deal with Paramount.
Justin Gaethje says his pay hasn’t increased despite the UFC x Paramount deal 😬
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) January 21, 2026
"Daniel Cormier says everyone's gonna get paid more on this card. I'm not getting one dollar more than I would've if this [Paramount] deal did not happen." #UFC324pic.twitter.com/2OoCcyll6z
Gaethje has 14 UFC post-fight bonuses (in 14 UFC fights) including a $300K bonus at UFC 300. The amount totals $950,000. Gaethje believes he should have been paid more and he should have had more opportunities to get paid.
Gaethje is 9-5 in the UFC and has been involved in some of the best fights in the UFC.
In response, Dana White went on the Pat MacAfee show to explain.
Dana White responds to Justin Gaethje's recent comments:
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) January 22, 2026
Without getting into all that stuff, Gaethje was offered more money and Gaethje never responded. pic.twitter.com/A4LPTaOquO
White stated that they offered Gaethje more money and then Gaethje “never responded.” He went on to say that he’s “good” with Gaethje.
Payout Perspective:
The obvious follow-up about why he never responded and whether he contacted Gaethje or his manager about the “more money” would have been appropriate. Same with the “more money” being a contract extension or something else. But MacAfee is not a real reporter, and doesn’t want to push a friend and TKO stablemate. Still, Gaethje is nearing the end of his career and its clear he laments the fact that he didn’t get paid as much as he thinks he’s worth.
We’ll see if Justin can get a 15th performance bonus to boost his career UFC bonus earnings to over $1M.
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