“Conor McGregor Hasn’t Seen That Number” – Daniel Cormier Contradicts Joe Rogan’s Prediction on Jon Jones’s Payday for Tom Aspinall Fight

Chael Sonnen is convinced that the generational clash between Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall is locked in. How convinced? “100%” convinced, as the verbose UFC analyst told co-host Daniel Cormier on their ‘Good Guy/Bad Guy’ show. As far as the public is concerned, Jones is still negotiating with Dana White and Co. to try and agree to terms for the Aspinall fight. But Sonnen seemingly has some inside scoop which convinced him that ‘Bones’ is just waiting for a call from the promotion to tell him the date. And Daniel Cormier is totally “buying it”.

“I think it’s 100% too, I believe that Jon Jones gets the fight, I truly do. We said this before- we thought that it was just a matter of him negotiating publicly, but Chael, when it comes to negotiating publicly, Joe Rogan talks about stuff and at times Joe can be out there. But a lot of times when Joe Rogan speaks mixed martial arts, it tends to happen. Big topic Joe was talking about the other day was- well, I hear Jon Jones wants 30 million to fight,” he said.

Jones, of course, had asked for “f**k you money” from the promotion to fight Tom Aspinall after UFC 309. Before that event, he had been totally against the idea of fighting the Englishman, both of which fans and ‘DC’ saw as negotiating tactics by the GOAT contender.

Another twist in the tale came after Joe Rogan recently said on his podcast that ‘Bones’ wanted $30 million for the fight, and the UFC had agreed to it. But Cormier was a bit skeptical that Jones would be paid $30 million, which would be the biggest payday in the history of the UFC, even leaving behind Conor McGregor’s record-breaking $28 million payout for the UFC 229 Khabib Nurmagomedov fight.

“What are the percentages that he gets 30 million to fight? Because I thought he was just negotiating and if that’s the number, and if there’s a chance Jon Jones gets that number, that is unheard of. Conor McGregor hasn’t seen that number inside the UFC,” he added.

Sonnen shared ‘DC’s skepticism about Jones getting $30 million for the Aspinall fight giving it a “10% chance”. On the other hand, he felt that even if Jones gets half of that to fight the Englishman, that would be a very good deal for ‘Bones’. But there is another fight where Jones may just be able to make the eye-watering sum he seemingly wants for fighting Aspinall.

If not Aspinall, who could Jon Jones face to get $30 million?

One of the reasons Jon Jones wanted to fight light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira over Tom Aspinall is because that fight will probably be bigger. Although Dana White has claimed that Jones-Aspinall would be the grandest clash in UFC history, Pereira is a bigger star than Aspinall. In fact, ‘Poatan’ may just be the biggest active star on the UFC’s roster at the moment.

While Aspinall is a generational talent and opened as the betting favorite against Jones, he isn’t even that big of a star in his native England. On the other hand, Pereira has a very strong support base in Brazil and America and can sell more PPVs than Aspinall one-on-one. Of course, there is still the possibility that Jones will fight Pereira after Aspinall. Although many expect the GOAT contender to retire after the Aspinall fight, ‘Bones’ may well stick around for a scrap against the Brazilian.

Even though ‘Poatan’ will not be much of a stylistic challenge for Jones since he doesn’t have much of a ground game and is smaller than the heavyweight champ, almost anyone who even remotely follows the sport would be interested in that fight.

So while Sonnen and Cormier may well be right that Jones won’t get $30 million to fight Aspinall, that figure may very well be on the table if he fights Pereira. Especially if Jones can beat the interim champ. What do you think about Cormier’s take on Jon Jones’ payday for the Aspinall fight?