Jon Jones' new UFC contract will see him fight for the world heavyweight title in March, and become the promotion's second-highest earner in the process.
Conor McGregor, naturally, is far and away the biggest earner in MMA, garnering tens of millions for his fights which can all draw well upwards of one million pay-per-view sales even in the era of illegal streaming. And prior to Jones making his return after three years out of action, former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya was the next best paid.
But the UFC have, three years after he last defended the light-heavyweight title against Dominick Reyes, agreed to terms that will make the iconic fighter the highest paid active fighter in the promotion. Jones has been ready for a move to heavyweight for years, but believed his worth to be higher than the UFC was offering, which they have finally admitted with his latest deal.
“When you try to put together big fights, there are always a lot of twists and turns,” Jones' manager Richard Schaefer said during an appearance on The MMA Hour after he agreed to terms for a heavyweight title fight against Ciryl Gane. “We certainly had our fair share of twists over the past 24 or so months that I’ve been working with Jon.
"I’m very happy for Jon. I’m very happy for the MMA fans to see Jon finally fight for that UFC heavyweight title. It has been long in the making. You never really knew who it was going to be. We knew that it was going to be for the title. That’s what Jon wanted. I’m very happy that Jon is getting that title shot.”
Jones had been locked in talks for months with the UFC over a world title shot at heavyweight after bulking up to a considerably bigger frame during his time away from the cage. He had been hoping to face the undisputed champion Francis Ngannou, but the Cameroonian has left the promotion after failing to come to an agreement over a new contract.
The champion was earning a scandalous amount of money as champion, taking home a guaranteed purse of just $600,000 for his last title defence against Gane in January of 2022. His boxing equivalents Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk both make in the region of 20-times the amount for their title defences, while most purse bids for title fights in the ring also see champions paid more.
What do you make of Jon Jones being made the highest-paid fighter in the UFC aside from Conor McGregor? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
“I think UFC realises that Jon Jones is the GOAT,” Schaefer continued. “He is a generational talent, so they were very much interested and very open to work with us and come to the conclusion of putting together a fair deal, which we did here. That deal we made for Jon makes Jon in the history of the UFC, the highest paid heavyweight athlete.
"Overall, I think as Hunter mentioned to me, probably the second highest ever next to Conor McGregor. So it was a long negotiation but it was not a hostile negotiation. It wasn’t where both sides dug their heels in. I think both sides wanted to find a way. We found a way and here it is.
"It was a contract that made both parties happy. Maybe it made both parties a little bit unhappy as well. I think in order for this to happen, every side had to give a little bit. We are very pleased and I’m sure UFC is pleased. I’m sure Jon is very happy to be back and get this opportunity to fight for the heavyweight title.”
