LAS VEGAS – Justin Gaethje might know a thing or two about MMA math.
Not the kind you’re used to hearing about – how if Fighter A beat Fighter B, and Fighter B beat Fighter C, then Fighter A would X, Y and Z, ad infinitum – but the actual, trackable kind.
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Told his UFC 324 main event interim lightweight title win Saturday tied him with Dustin Poirier and Edson Barboza for the most Fight of the Night bonuses in UFC history, he knew exactly what the MMA math was.
“That’s through 15 (UFC) fights (for me),” Gaethje told MMA Junkie at his post-fight news conference at T-Mobile Arena. “They had 32 or 31. No one’s been as exciting and consistent as me ever. … I’m proud of that. Luckily, it’s just who I am, because I don’t try.”
Gaethje (27-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) was an underdog against Paddy Pimblett (23-4 MMA, 7-1 UFC), who was around a -250 betting favorite. But over 25 minutes he fought through his toughest moments and did the lion’s share of the visible damage that was done in the fight, leaving Pimblett’s face a bloodied and bruised mild horror show.
Gaethje has 15 post-fight bonuses in 15 UFC fights. Only twice has he not gotten a bonus – but he’s evened things out by having two fights in which he earned both Fight of the Night and Performance of the Night. In the case of his assertion he’s been the most exciting and consistent fighter in UFC history, there are numbers like those to back up the claims.
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Poirier, who retired in 2025, had his 10 Fight of the Night bonuses over 31 UFC fights. Barboza, who still is active, has had 32 bouts in the promotion for his 10 Fight of the Nights. He’s currently on a three-fight skid.
Gaethje now will sit back and wait to find out when and where he’ll fight champion Ilia Topuria, who took time away for personal reasons, creating the interim situation. Topuria plans to return between April and July, he has said.
Gaethje, now a two-time interim champion, will get a rare second chance at a title while holding a temp belt. In his first time as interim champion in 2020, he lost a unifier to Khabib Nurmagomedov – who retired afterward, opening the belt up again.
He thinks things might go different against Topuria when the time comes.
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“I’ve just got to trust in the preparation, trust in my coaches and trust in my skills,” he said. “I’m here for a reason. I hope it’s my destiny, but I don’t get to write that. We’ll see.
“… I get to fight for the belt next fight, I get to get paid as a champion, and hopefully I have a good manager and he’ll renegotiate my contract. It’s better than losing tonight.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Justin Gaethje does the math on UFC Fight of Night bonus record
