Justin Gaethje scores $825,000 in UFC White House bonuses

Justin Gaethje walked away from UFC White House with $825,000 in post-fight bonuses, the biggest individual payout of the historic South Lawn card that saw him dethrone featherweight champion Ilia Topuria to claim the undisputed lightweight title.

The June 14 upset on Paramount+ earned Gaethje both Performance of the Night and Fight of the Night honors, per MMA Mania. The Performance bonus included $100,000 from UFC, $125,000 in USD1 cryptocurrency from World Liberty Financial, and $200,000 in CRO tokens from Crypto.com. The Fight of the Night award added another $400,000 split between UFC's traditional $100,000 and $300,000 in CRO. Topuria banked $400,000 for his half of the Fight of the Night bonus despite the loss.

Gane takes home heavyweight interim strap and bonus

Ciryl Gane scored the card's second Performance of the Night bonus worth $425,000 after stopping former two-division champion Alex Pereira. The French heavyweight now holds the interim belt and is positioned for a rematch with Tom Aspinall later this year. All other fighters who recorded finishes on the Freedom 250 card received $25,000 bonuses.

"He's so f*cking dangerous," Gaethje said at the post-fight press conference, per MMA Mania. "I don't know how I stayed away from some of those shots. He definitely rocked me, but I just kept telling myself to trust my abilities, not be emotional. What I felt was in the third round, I kept jabbing the shit out of him. The plan was do not lead with jabs until he finds his back foot. As soon as he finds his back foot, he's not going to be as explosive."

The win gives Gaethje 17 post-fight bonuses across just 16 UFC appearances. He defends the lightweight title next against the winner of Charles Oliveira vs. Islam Makhachev, expected to be booked for September.

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• MMA Mania — Cha-ching! Justin Gaethje leads monster UFC White House bonuses with staggering $825,000 payout