MMA analyst Chael Sonnen has an interesting theory regarding Jon Jones requesting $40 million to take on Tom Aspinall.
Right now, Jon Jones is not the UFC heavyweight champion. He was, but he gave up that belt and decided to retire from mixed martial arts instead of fighting Tom Aspinall. However, after the promotion revealed that they'd be heading to the White House for an event next year, 'Bones' seemed to change his mind.
Now, fans are left to wait and see whether or not Dana White will change his mind regarding Jon Jones taking part on that card. Either way, there's a great deal of uncertainty in the air, and it's clear that Jon will ask for a substantial amount of money in order to agree to the fight.
After it was suggested that Jon Jones wanted $40 million to fight Aspinall, Sonnen felt the need to respond in a recent video.
Chael Sonnen’s view on Jon Jones’ financial request
“I was at the press conference right after Jon Jones beats Stipe Miocic and Jones to fight Tom Aspinall throws out the biggest number he could think of, and that was 40 million. Now, the reason that number happened to be on Jon’s brain is there was just a report that came out that a fight that happened the day before on Netflix, Jake Paul versus Mike Tyson, that Jake Paul was paid $40 million.
“It was not true. It was never true… But when he was asked how much he was going to need to fight Aspinall, he yelled out the biggest number he could think of, which at that time was 40 million because he just read the article about Jake Paul.
“But when you get back home and it’s time to actually find a date in a venue and get this fight done, Jon’s locked in at $40 million. Jon had forgot why he said $40 million. Jon forgot that this was part of the show.”