There has been a lot of talk about positive changes taking place in a new era for the leading MMA promotion.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Dana White has spoken a lot about fighter pay increasing as a result of the UFC’s new deal with Paramount+ that gets underway this Saturday.

With PPV no longer being a factor for US fans, some questions haven’t been answered yet in terms of what this means for the athletes on the roster.

The narrative that fighters will earn more in 2026 than in the past was disputed by Justin Gaethje ahead of his main event bout on January 24.

Understandably, this talking point was raised at the press conference that took place on Thursday in Las Vegas.

Dana White signs off on Jean Silva’s comment about increasing bonuses for UFC 324

Dana White claimed that Justin Gaethje was offered more money but never responded to the UFC ahead of the promotion’s first event of the year.

During the UFC 324 press conference, MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn pushed the promotion’s president for an answer on what post-fight bonuses will increase to going forward.

Just two days out from a huge debut show on Paramount+, White’s response suggested that while this number will be increasing, he doesn’t know what it will end up being at this time.

UFC fan favorite Derrick Lewis looked to put a number in the boss’ mind by taking the mic to push for the bonus to be $324,000, which was always going to be a big swing.

Another star on Saturday’s card also made a pitch to White, with Jean Silva saying, “You tune up the bonus boss and you give us more money, you see two autistic dudes really going at it if you pay us more.”

“Deal,” the UFC president responded.

Justin Gaethje shut down a question about his pay he’s received

During the UFC 324 press conference, a question was asked to both Justin Gaethje and Dana White.

This appeared to be the perfect opportunity for ‘The Highlight’ to respond to the UFC president’s claim that he was offered more money but he didn’t respond.

Instead, Gaethje immediately shut down the question by saying, “I’m here to talk about fighting”.

Many praised the American for speaking up on this in the first place though his dismissal of it at the press conference didn’t help to change things.