Jon Jones has been busy on Twitter once again today as he discussed terms he would need for a potential mega-fight with Francis Ngannou and much more — This is your Wednesday Fightful Fix.
Jon Jones says $8-10 million is "way too low" for Francis Ngannou fight
Jon Jones (26-1, 1NC) has made his demands clearer to his fans for what he believes a fight with Francis Ngannou is worth. "Bones" was busy on Twitter today and among other things, made the claim that an $8-10 million payday would be "way too low for a fight of this magnitude." The former light-heavyweight champion has also said he is awaiting news from the UFC as to what they are offering him to fight the newly crowned UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou.
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
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
This would prompt others, most notably Derrick Lewis (25-7, 1NC) and former rival Chael Sonnen to chime in on how they felt about Jones' tweets. To see all of the tweets sent by Jones, you can check out his Twitter here.
I’ll do it for 8 million shiiiittt @ufc
— Derrick Lewis (@Thebeast_ufc) March 31, 2021
Little past noon. He’s sure up early today. https://t.co/2p9fl67AEa
— Chael Sonnen (@ChaelSonnen) March 31, 2021
Coach: Jon Jones Should Make $50M For Francis Ngannou Fight
Jon Jones' Coach Mike Winkeljohn has claimed that his fighter should get $50 million for the potential Francis Ngannou fight. Jones has been consistent in saying that he wants a bigger payday for the jump to heavyweight, and with a potential debut for the UFC heavyweight title, it seems fair to ask for a bigger cut of the pie that fight could generate. And when asked how much he thinks it could be worth, Winkeljohn backed up his student and believes he should get a huge payday.
“Gosh, I look at the big fights. I think this fight can be easily as [big as] some of the big Mayweather fights out there,” Winkeljohn said to Submission Radio (h/t LowKick MMA). “What did Floyd Mayweather make? A hundred million? I don’t know. You know, that type of thing. He was kind of his own promoter. So, Jon’s gotta share that with the UFC as far as on pay-per-view buys. But I don’t see why it wouldn’t be a fifty-million-dollar fight. And the UFC still makes bank, and is able to pay off a lot of the debt they have and go forward. I think the UFC needs a superstar like Jon Jones. I think Conor was the guy for a while, and he’s fallen off. But those big names is what makes the UFC money, ultimately.”
Michael Chandler not ruling out a Khabib Nurmagomedov fight
Michael Chandler (22-5) isn't entirely ruling out a potential fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov. Nurmagomedov is retired since defeating Justin Gaethje (no.2) at UFC 254 but despite this, Dana White has only come to terms with this recently and some fighters have persisted in calling him out. And Chandler (no.4) is hoping that if he continues to impress in his UFC run, "The Eagle" may come back if he gets that competitive itch.
"He's gonna be very intertwined with the UFC for decades to come and especially the lightweight division. He's still very young so we'll see what happens in the future."
Chandler says he considers Nurmagomedov to be the greatest of all time and would respect whatever decision he makes regarding his fighting future. But, for now, Chandler says his focus is on Charles Oliveira (no.3)
"Charles Oliveira poses a lot of threats on the ground but I've never even come close to really getting submitted. have a kind of a 6th sense when it comes to the ground game to not be submitted. So, how does Chandler see the fight going? He wants to overwhelm his opponent with brute violence. Hit him. Hit him as hard as I can numerous times on the feet," Chandler said to TMZ Sports. "Keep the fight standing, put him in panic mode, knock him out in the 1st round. I'm very good at keeping my foot on the gas for 25 minutes. I've done it a dozen times now so go out there and knock him out 1st or 2nd round, get my hand raised in front of a huge Houston crowd on May 15. Collect my paycheck, go kiss my wife and figure out what's next."
Dana White curious to see how Francis Ngannou reacts to being champion
Dana White has admitted he is curious to see how Francis Ngannou reacts to being UFC heavyweight champion. Ngannou defeated Stipe Miocic by KO at UFC 260 to achieve his dream. And the UFC president has warned that the journey of getting to the top and staying at the top is just as difficult as one another.
“I can’t explain to you guys enough about keeping your head together when you either get the title shot or once you get the title,” White said about Ngannou at the UFC 260 post-fight press conference (h/t MMA Fighting). “There’s a lot of things that go along with being the champion and it’s not as easy as just training and fighting anymore. There’s a lot that goes with it. He got a little ahead of himself the first time. Let’s see how he handles it this time. So far, so good.”
Demetrious Johnson wants rule change on a downed opponent
Demetrious Johnson has come to the defense of Aljamin Sterling and Petr Yan for the controversial ending to their bantamweight title fight. Sterling won the title by DQ, a first in the UFC after Yan was deemed to have struck an illegal knee to a downed opponent. And "Mighty Mouse" has sympathized as he had a similar encounter during his 2013 title fight against John Dodson.
“I dealt with the exact same thing in 2013 in Chicago, UFC on FOX 6 against John Dodson. I had him against the cage, he put his hand on the ground, I did not take the time to see his hand on the ground and it’s not my job to look and see if his hand is on the ground. In my opinion, he was in a knowledgeable position that he could defend himself," Johnson said to MMA Fighting's "What the Heck" podcast.
“I blast him in his face, John McCarthy stopped the fight and said, ‘Hey, dude. He was a downed opponent.’ I said, ‘What the f—k do you mean he’s down? His finger is touching the ground. He’s not down.’ So I’ve gone through this before in the UFC. To see the same thing happen with Aljamain Sterling vs. Petr Yan, first off, I’m a big fan of Aljamain Sterling. I have nothing against the guy, but each time I give my personal opinion—which you just asked for—I like to do so as a neutral person."
Luke Rockhold claims “tyrant” Dana White “tried to beat me down mentally” after title loss to Michael Bisping
Luke Rockhold has taken aim at Dana White and labeled him a "tyrant." Rockhold is preparing for his UFC return this summer and has claimed that White was less than kind to him after he lost the middleweight title to Michael Bisping. And Rockhold has admitted that he believes that MMA needs a governing body to look after the fighters.
“We don’t have the governing body. We’ve got an egotistical guy that’s a bit of a tyrant,” Rockhold said on the "Rippin' It podcast" (h/t BroBible). “No one is going to try and fight you, you’ve got to put your ass on the line, stand your ground, take risk, otherwise you get treated like a b–ch. It’s unfortunate, a guy like that, he thinks he can fight, he thinks he’s a fighter. I don’t understand why he’s trying to belittle all the fighters when you’ve never fought a day in your life. You’re a promoter. We need a governing body to give people what they deserve, he doesn’t play the game right.”
Dominick Cruz reveals he never texted Chael Sonnen to ask for Sean O’Malley fight
Dominick Cruz has denied that he text Chael Sonnen following Sean O'Malley's TKO of Thomas Almeida at UFC 260. Sonnen was speaking on the post-show at UFC 260 on ESPN and claimed that Cruz texted him to express his interest in that fight. But The UFC commentator has poured cold water on that suggestion and claimed that Sonnen has bent the truth quite substantially.
“In his mind, he thought this was a friendly thing to do for me because I didn’t run out and shout somebody out the way he does,” Dominick Cruz said to Ariel Helwani of ESPN (h/t BJPenn.com). “That’s the way he works. You gotta do this, that’s Chael, you know this. But, like you said he does bend the truth and he definitely bent the truth over backwards on this one. I did not text him that."
“In fact, six months before I picked up this fight with Casey Kenney and agreed to it, before (Sean) Shelby brought it to me, he asked me if I wanted to be part of his grappling promotion against Sean O’Malley or against Roman Bravo-Young,” Cruz added. “I’m thinking, why would I go do this when I am still planning to fight? I said no, I am not going to do that because I plan on coming back to fight and he said respect. That was it. Then he brings this back around and creates it and it is very Chael Sonnen for him to do so. I did not text him. This is the honest to God truth."
Beneil Dariush: UFC 262 fight is do or die for Tony Ferguson
Beneil Dariush isn't taking Tony Ferguson lightly despite his recent slump in form. Dariush (20-4-1) and Ferguson (25-5) will face off on a stacked UFC 262 card on May 15. And despite "El Cucuy" losing two-straight and ending his 13-fight win streak, Dariush has admitted he is preparing for the best version of Ferguson that he has seen.
“I try to look at the best Tony I’ve ever seen,” Beneil Dariush said to MMAJunkie. “The Tony who fought Rafael (dos Anjos), he looked really good. The Tony who fought Kevin Lee looked very good. You had the Donald Cerrone fight. I try to watch those fights and look at the best Tony. I don’t try to look at the fights he lost too much, because you don’t get the best version, and I’m trying to look at the best version, because I think he’s going to come out with his best version, because it’s a do-or-die kind of situation for him.”
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