UFC Fight Night 278 hands out $100K top bonuses, with Brendan Allen getting the biggest check

UFC Fight Night 278 at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas ended with a familiar pattern, only with bigger numbers: the promotion awarded four $100,000 bonuses for Fight of the Night and Performance of the Night, and then paid additional $25,000 “finish” bonuses to five other fighters who won by stoppage but were not selected for the top awards. Yahoo Sports’ recap framed it as a night where the biggest payout went to a heavily favored fighter, with Brendan Allen taking Fight of the Night money after his unanimous-decision victory over Edmen Shahbazyan. (The UFC event is widely referenced as occurring on June 6, 2026, though one secondary report lists June 7, so the date label may vary by outlet.)

Allen’s Fight of the Night award came from the co-main event, where he and Shahbazyan battled for three rounds. Allen was able to secure the decision, and the UFC then paired that result with the promotion’s top $100,000 “fight” bonus for the most compelling bout on the card. In the same pool of $100,000 checks, UFC also named two Performance of the Night winners: Iwo Baraniewski and Edgar Chairez.

Baraniewski received one of the $100,000 Performance of the Night awards for stopping Junior Tafa in the opening round. UFC’s own bonus coverage highlighted how Baraniewski built to the finish by attacking early and then closing once the opportunity presented itself. Chairez, in the other Performance of the Night slot, earned his $100,000 bonus for a first-round submission over Bruno Silva, cashing in quickly after landing a knockdown and locking up a rear-naked choke.

The evening’s total payout extended beyond those four main bonuses. UFC also distributed $25,000 finish bonuses to Bryce Mitchell, Alessandro Costa, Chelsea Chandler, Joanderson Brito, and Ketlen Souza. According to multiple outlets tracking UFC’s post-fight bonus structure, this supplemental check is designed to ensure fighters who secure a knockout or submission are rewarded even if they are not chosen for Fight of the Night or Performance of the Night.

The broader context for Fight Night 278 is that the UFC altered its bonus economics entering the Paramount+ era. Sports Business Journal reported that UFC’s Performance and Fight of the Night awards would rise to $100,000, and that the promotion would add a $25,000 “finish incentive” for fighters who secure a knockout or submission but are not selected among the standard top awards.

For the winners, the practical takeaway is straightforward: these checks can move a fighter’s quarterly earning picture, and they often steer matchmakers toward the most marketable momentum. That matters particularly for fighters like Allen, Baraniewski, and Chairez, whose bonuses came from wins that were cleanly mapped to UFC’s reward priorities, fight competitiveness for Allen, and quick-impact finishes for Baraniewski and Chairez.

Next up, the question is less about the money and more about matchmaking. UFC has already shown, through this bonus structure, that it wants both violence and entertainment on Fight Nights, so the natural storyline is whether this group gets invitations to bigger stages, tougher opponents, or both, as the promotion works through its current middleweight and flyweight-forward talent pipeline.