UFC 328 Jeremy Stephens criticizes post-fight bonus structure – ‘What happened to the money?’

ST. LOUIS, MO - JANUARY 14: Jeremy Stephens celebrates his TKO victory over Dooho Choi of South Korea in their featherweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event inside the Scottrade Center on January 14, 2018 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) | Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

“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?