Jon Jones goes off on Twitter over his pay and reveals what he considers to be inadequate pay for a fight with Francis Ngannou.
Just how much does Jon Jones want for a superfight with heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou? Well we don’t have a specific figure, but we know what he considers to be unacceptable.
In his latest string of tweets, Jones claimed that he spoke with UFC executive vice president and chief business officer Hunter Campbell, and told him that a payday in the range of $8-10 million isn’t good enough.
I had a brief phone meeting with UFC‘s lawyer Hunter a few days ago. As of right now I expressed to him that anywhere around eight to $10 million would be way too low for a fight of this magnitude. That’s all that has been discussed so far.
— BONY (@JonnyBones) March 31, 2021
He did admit, however, that no formal offer has been made yet.
I’m supposed to be waiting for what their offer is going to be. Really hoping the numbers are nowhere near that low. I guess we will see what happens
— BONY (@JonnyBones) March 31, 2021
By the way, that $8-10 million range is roughly what Andy Ruiz made for his heavyweight title rematch with Anthony Joshua in 2019.
Jones continued his rant by bemoaning his pay throughout his 20s, which he says was roughly $2 million per fight.
I’ve been working my ass off for years, concussions, surgeries, fighting the Toughest competition UFC had to offer throughout my 20s for right around 2 million per fight. I’m just trying to have my payday, the fight that all of us fighters Believe is one day possible.
— BONY (@JonnyBones) March 31, 2021
Jones and White have been going back-and-forth over the former light heavyweight champion’s pay dating back to last year, so now that Ngannou is the champion this subject has been brought up once again. There’s no doubt that Ngannou vs. Jones would be one of the most anticipated fights in UFC history, and Jones is not the only one who wants a pay raise for this matchup. Jon took it to hyperbolic levels by suggesting this is the UFC equivalent of Muhammad Ali vs. George Foreman.
I feel like this fight is monumental, matchup‘s like this don’t come very often in a lifetime. Me stopping Francis in my first fight up at heavyweight would be nothing short of extraordinary. Ali versus foreman, hosted by the UFC
— BONY (@JonnyBones) March 31, 2021
Dana White has already stated that if Ngannou vs. Jones doesn’t happen, then a rematch between Francis and Derrick Lewis would make the most sense. ‘The Black Beast’ is obviously more than willing to fight for $8 million, to which Jones retorted that their situations are not the same.
I’ll do it for 8 million shiiiittt @ufc
— Derrick Lewis (@Thebeast_ufc) March 31, 2021
I’m sure he would, let him. Derek also doesn’t have 15 world championships on his resume. Their last fight was one of the most boring heavyweight fights in recent history. Completely different situation https://t.co/TlxS2NOCNg
— BONY (@JonnyBones) March 31, 2021
Stay tuned for more Twitter drama on the next episode of “As The Jones Tweets.”