“Lil Heathen” isn’t impressed.
Longtime Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) veteran Jeremy Stephens returns to action this weekend (Sat., May 9, 2026) against fellow veteran King Green on the UFC 328 main card inside Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
With the UFC now giving out $100,000 post-fight bonuses under its new Paramount+ era, Stephens — a fighter who built much of his reputation through action-packed performances (and cashing bonuses) — believes the increase still falls well short
of where it should be.
“Now it is just corporations,” Stephens told Full Send MMA. “They are like, here you go, $50 gs here, $50 gs here, and now it is $100 gs, but they were already doing that in 2007 at UFC 71 when I started my UFC career. I was already making $75,000 bonuses. So what the f—k happened to the money? Where is the budget guy on this, because the UFC is making all this money? Why aren’t we getting $500,000 bonuses?
“Bro, you are basically giving out what you gave out thirty years ago,” Stephens continued. “It’s kind of f—ked up. For me, that doesn’t make sense; it is just really corporate. Back in the day, it was the ‘Dana duffle bag,’ bring back the good old days.”
To be fair, UFC 71 officially awarded $40,000 bonuses, though Stephens later earned larger payouts in other appearances, including $60,000 bonuses at events like UFC 91 and UFC 125.
Still, the broader point remains relevant. Fighter pay — particularly bonus structure — has been a hot-button topic for years, and despite the recent increase, many fighters feel the numbers haven’t kept pace with the UFC’s exploding revenue and the fact that the promotion has $1.1 billion to play with every year for seven years.
As for Stephens, the stakes are high at UFC 328.
The veteran is currently tied with Clay Guida for the most losses in UFC history at 19. A defeat to Green would give Stephens the record outright.
Oddsmakers currently list him as a +295 underdog.
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