UFC Champ Jones Encouraged By Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s Pay

“[FMJ’s pay is] ridiculous, in a good way. His swagger, his work ethic shined through. It’s great to see a champion show his heart and his winning ways. It’s great to see a champion get what he deserves. That really, really encourages me. Boxing has been around over 100 years. The foundation is set and the money is there. MMA is so new. You can’t just expect to be paid, if we’re going to be paid $40 million, what is the UFC going to make? Floyd is his own production. We’re a fairly new sport. I’m grateful for the money I make. As a 26-year-old I could never imagine being in this position. I don’t think money is the key to life, or happiness. Would it be nice? It would be great to be paid the way other athletes will be paid. Doing my part, paydays closer to that, hopefully I’ll be the guy to get us there through hard work, longevity. Doing something you love, to make millions of dollar of doing it, it’s an honor. I don’t want to come off ungrateful. I’m happy. I’m extremely happy. … Hopefully we get there, hopefully I”m the one who gets us there. I’m not going to judge my happiness on someone else’s accomplishments.”

At a media luncheon in downtown Los Angeles, Jon Jones touched on the glaring disparity between MMA pay and boxing pay when it comes to the two sport’s top athletes.

Last Saturday, Mayweather’s guaranteed fight purse was just north of $40 million dollars and was projected to go as high as $100 million if they delivered on pay-per-view buys.