Some UFC records tell you who won the most fights or spent longest as champion. The bonus leaderboard tells you something slightly different. It rewards chaos.
A fighter can earn extra money for producing the best finish of the night, or for being involved in a fight that nobody watching wants to end. Do that often enough and the bonuses become a pretty good measure of which fighters have spent their careers entertaining people.
Nobody has done it more often than Charles Oliveira.
As of September 2026, Oliveira holds the record for the most UFC post-fight bonuses with 21. Donald Cerrone sits second on 18, while current lightweight champion Justin Gaethje has climbed to 17.
For the latest markets across upcoming cards, visit the BetVictor UFC betting and odds page.
Who Has the Most UFC Bonuses?
Charles Oliveira leads the all-time UFC bonus list with 21 awards.
The current leaders are:
- Charles Oliveira, 21
- Donald Cerrone, 18
- Justin Gaethje, 17
- Nate Diaz, 16
- Jim Miller, 16
- Joe Lauzon, 15
- Dustin Poirier, 15
- Anderson Silva, 14
- Edson Barboza, 13
- Max Holloway, 13
There are different types of bonus hidden inside those totals, which is worth remembering.
Fight of the Night rewards both fighters in the standout bout of an event. Performance of the Night usually goes to an individual who produces an exceptional finish or performance.
Older UFC events also featured separate Knockout of the Night and Submission of the Night awards.
Charles Oliveira: 21 UFC Bonuses
Oliveira’s record fits his career almost perfectly. He rarely takes the easy route.
His 21 bonuses are made up of 14 Performance of the Night awards, four Fight of the Night awards and three Submission of the Night bonuses.
Fourteen Performance bonuses alone is a UFC record. That does not happen by grinding out safe decisions.
Oliveira also owns the promotional record for finishes and submissions, so the records naturally feed into each other. When he wins, there is a very good chance somebody is getting stopped.
His submission game has been especially productive. Rear-naked chokes, guillotines, armbars and anaconda chokes have all appeared during his UFC career.
Our guide to the different types of UFC submissions explains how those finishes actually work.
Perhaps the strangest thing about Oliveira’s bonus record is how long it took him to become champion.
He spent years as an entertaining but inconsistent fighter before putting everything together at lightweight. The finishes were always there. Eventually, the results caught up.
Donald Cerrone: 18 Bonuses
Before Oliveira passed him, Donald Cerrone owned this record. That seems about right.
“Cowboy” fought constantly, accepted difficult opponents and appeared to have very little interest in protecting his record if there was an entertaining fight available instead.
His 18 UFC bonuses came through a mixture of Fight of the Night, Performance of the Night, Knockout of the Night and Submission of the Night awards.
That range tells the story. Cerrone could kick somebody unconscious, catch a submission or simply get dragged into a ridiculous three-round fight.
He never became undisputed UFC champion, but few fighters from his era produced as many memorable nights.
Justin Gaethje: 17 Bonuses
Gaethje’s number looks ridiculous once you consider how many UFC fights he has actually had.
He arrived from the World Series of Fighting in 2017 and immediately started collecting bonuses.
His UFC debut against Michael Johnson won Fight of the Night. Then came Eddie Alvarez. Dustin Poirier. Michael Chandler. Rafael Fiziev. Max Holloway. Paddy Pimblett.
There is a theme here. Gaethje currently holds the record for most Fight of the Night bonuses with 11, having moved ahead of Poirier and Barboza.
That is probably an even better summary of his career than the overall bonus number.
Gaethje has knockout power, but what makes him different is how often the opponent ends up being dragged into the madness with him.
He also finally became undisputed lightweight champion in 2026, stopping Ilia Topuria at UFC Freedom 250 and picking up another performance bonus along the way.
For more fighters built around serious knockout power, our look at the biggest punchers in UFC history covers some of the promotion’s most dangerous finishers.
Nate Diaz and Jim Miller: 16 Bonuses
These two reached 16 in completely different ways. Nate Diaz was almost designed for Fight of the Night bonuses.
He talked throughout fights, threw huge volumes of punches and seemed perfectly comfortable getting hit if it meant he could keep pressuring forward.
The two Conor McGregor fights alone became enormous moments in UFC history.
Diaz also picked up plenty of submission bonuses earlier in his career, with his guillotine and triangle game producing several memorable finishes.
Jim Miller has been less theatrical. He just keeps fighting.
Miller made his UFC debut in 2008 and was still submitting opponents in 2026. His first-round guillotine over Jared Gordon at UFC 328 earned another Performance of the Night award and pushed his career bonus total to 16.
He has somehow remained dangerous across completely different generations of UFC lightweight talent.
Joe Lauzon and Dustin Poirier: 15 Bonuses
Joe Lauzon was once the man everyone associated with this record. For years, he and Anderson Silva traded places near the top of the leaderboard.
Lauzon was particularly good at picking up the old Submission of the Night award. Six of his 15 bonuses came that way, alongside Fight of the Night appearances and one Knockout of the Night.
Dustin Poirier reached the same total through a rather different route.
Ten of Poirier’s 15 bonuses were for Fight of the Night. That makes sense if you look through his opponents.
Justin Gaethje. Max Holloway. Dan Hooker. Michael Chandler. Benoit Saint Denis.
Poirier spent the later stages of his career almost exclusively fighting people who were difficult to have a quiet evening against.
Anderson Silva: 14 Bonuses
Anderson Silva’s 14 deserves a little historical context. Much of his prime came before Performance of the Night existed.
Instead, fighters could earn Knockout of the Night or Submission of the Night.
Silva collected seven Knockout of the Night awards, which tells you exactly how his middleweight reign looked at its peak.
Front kicks, knees, counter punches and some finishes that barely looked real in real time.
His championship run also remains one of the most important in UFC history. Our guide to the most UFC title defences looks at how Silva compares with the other long-reigning champions.
Barboza and Holloway: 13 Bonuses
Edson Barboza and Max Holloway round out the current top 10 on 13 each. Barboza is another fighter whose position makes complete sense.
His spinning-wheel-kick knockout of Terry Etim is still one of the cleanest finishes the UFC has ever seen, but plenty of his bonuses actually came from long, competitive fights rather than one spectacular strike.
Holloway has built his total differently.
His fights tend to become exhausting wars because of the volume he throws. Holloway has landed more significant strikes than anyone in UFC history and has spent years fighting at championship level.
When you combine output like that with opponents such as Jose Aldo, Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje and Charles Oliveira, bonus opportunities tend to appear.
How Do UFC Bonuses Work?
The UFC’s bonus structure has changed several times.
For years, the familiar setup was Fight of the Night, plus separate awards for Knockout of the Night and Submission of the Night.
In 2014, those knockout and submission awards were replaced by Performance of the Night.
The normal format then became one Fight of the Night and two Performance bonuses, although the UFC can hand out more when it wants to.
Another big change arrived in January 2026. The standard Fight of the Night and Performance of the Night awards increased to $100,000 per fighter.
The UFC also introduced a separate $25,000 finish bonus for eligible fighters who score knockouts or submissions but do not receive one of the main awards.
That means a big finish matters financially even if somebody else steals Performance of the Night. Special events can pay even more.
UFC Freedom 250, for example, featured additional sponsor-backed bonus money on top of the UFC’s standard awards.
What Is the Difference Between Fight of the Night and Performance of the Night?
Fight of the Night goes to a bout. Both fighters receive the award.
A fighter does not necessarily need to win either. If two people produce the best contest on the card, both can leave with the bonus.
Performance of the Night is individual. It normally rewards a standout finish, although the UFC has discretion over who receives it.
That difference explains why somebody like Gaethje dominates the Fight of the Night record, while Oliveira sits comfortably ahead for Performance bonuses.
Different styles produce different kinds of chaos.
Can Anyone Catch Charles Oliveira?
Yes. Justin Gaethje is the obvious threat.
He sits four bonuses behind Oliveira and is still an active UFC champion. Given that Gaethje seems almost incapable of having a boring fight, another few awards would hardly be surprising.
Jim Miller is also still competing, although age makes a serious run at 21 difficult. Oliveira himself remains active too. That is the important bit.
Everyone trying to catch him is chasing a target that can still move.
The latest winners and post-fight developments are covered on our UFC results page, while the UFC schedule shows when the next opportunities to collect a bonus are coming.
For more UFC records, previews and MMA analysis, visit the BetVictor UFC and MMA news hub.
