Daniel Cormier thinks UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones making $30 million to fight Tom Aspinall would be a stretch.
UFC commentator and popular podcaster Joe Rogan said he heard that Jones (28-1 MMA, 22-1 UFC) is asking for $30 million to take on interim champ Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) in a title-unification bout that Dana White guarantees happens in 2025.
Cormier, a former UFC dual-champion and two-time opponent of Jones, headlined plenty of big pay-per-view events during his career. He shared insight on his paydays as champion and what UFC’s negotiations with Jones could look like.
“I’ll tell you guys, as a person who has been involved in big fights, a person who has sold pay-per-views, a person who at his time was at the top of the pay scale in the UFC as the heavyweight and light heavyweight champion, $30 million was literally a world away from anything we were making,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel.
“I remember when I got paid in New York, I got a big bump to take a fight on three weeks’ notice, which ultimately became my salary, and people were astounded with the number. But I will tell you it was a fraction of what that number that he’s asking for is. It was nowhere near that. But I’ve heard now rumors that the higher-end guys are making more. The Israel Adesanya, the Jon Jones, the Stipe Miocic. I heard that Stipe Miocic made big money for the last fight.”
Looking at Jones’ past pay-per-view and gate numbers, Cormier thinks $30 million isn’t necessarily an outlandish ask – although he doesn’t see him getting paid exactly that number.
“Rogan thinks that the UFC will pay the $30 million to get Jon Jones in there with Tom Aspinall,” Cormier said. “I’m not sure he gets to $30 (million), but if you ask for 30 and you end up with 20 or you get 15, that’s a win for Jon Jones on his way out.”
