Daniel Cormier reveals Dana White sent him a massive bonus after his first fight with Jon Jones: “Dude sent me a million-dollar check next day, just because he said I did a great job”

Daniel Cormier recently revealed that UFC President Dana White sent him a massive bonus following his first fight with Jon Jones in 2015.

Cormier (22-3 MMA) and Jones (26-1 MMA) collided for the first time at UFC 182 in January of 2015, and saw ‘Bones’ earn a unanimous decision victory.

That setback marked the first of Daniel Cormier’s storied mixed martial arts career, as he had previously won his first fifteen fights, including a 4-0 start in the UFC.

While discussing the topic of fighter pay on The Pivot (h/t MMA Junkie), ‘DC’ revealed that he was only guaranteed to make $80,000 for his first career UFC title fight.

“Back in 2015, I fought Jon Jones for the first time,” Cormier said. “We had this great build. And I was making $80,000 to show up and $80,000 to win. I lost. So I left that arena thinking, ‘All that, and I made $80,000.’ And I made like $80,000 in sponsorship back when we could wear those patches on our shorts. So I was like, ‘Man, for all that, I’m gonna make $150,000. It’s crazy.”

While Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones each took home a disclosed $50,000 bonus for their ‘fight of the night’ battle at UFC 182, the promotions generosity did not end there.

According to ‘DC’, Dana White called him two days later and sent him a check for a million dollars for doing a “great job”.

“Dana calls me two days later,” Cormier said. “‘Hey, man, you all killed it. Numbers are out of this world.’ He goes, ‘We’re gonna send you a million dollars.’ (This is) 2015. Dude sent me a million-dollar check next day, just because he said I did a great job.”

Despite the bonus money, Daniel Cormier says he is still haunted by his losses to Jones.