The former light heavyweight champion recently reworked his contract with the Las Vegas-based promotion, clearing the way for Jones to make his heavyweight debut against Ciryl Gane in a championship bout at UFC 285. Richard Schaefer, the former CEO of Golden Boy Promotions and currently Jones’ advisor, revealed during an appearance on "The MMA Hour" just how lucrative the deal will be. Not only is it the highest in heavyweight history, but now Jones will apparently be one of the highest-paid UFC athletes of all time.
“I think UFC realizes that Jon Jones is the GOAT. He is a generational talent, so they were very much interested and very open to work with us and come to the conclusion of putting together a fair deal, which we did here,” Schaefer said. “That deal we made for Jon makes Jon in the history of the UFC, the highest paid heavyweight athlete. Overall, I think as [UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell] mentioned to me, probably the second highest ever next to Conor McGregor. So it was a long negotiation but it was not a hostile negotiation. It wasn’t where both sides dug their heels in. I think both sides wanted to find a way. We found a way and here it is.”
While UFC president Dana White announced on Saturday that Jones signed a new eight-fight deal, Schaefer explained that wasn’t exactly the case.
“Jon was under an existing deal, which did not contemplate for any fights at heavyweight. It was for the light heavyweight division,” Schaefer said. “There were eight fights left. It’s not really a new deal. It’s basically an amendment to the existing deal, which includes the heavyweight provision. It’s not just like he was free and entered into a new deal. He was under contract with the UFC. But we sort of twisted the existing contract a bit, and in the end it was easier just to sign a new contract, always keeping in mind that these eight fights were still on the books.”
During his lengthy hiatus, Jones engaged in a very public contract dispute with the UFC over the terms of a potential heavyweight debut. That, among other things, led to “Bones” being sidelined for approximately three years. According to Schaefer, both parties are relatively satisfied.
“It was a contract that made both parties happy. Maybe it made both parties a little bit unhappy as well,” he said. “I think in order for this to happen, every side had to give a little bit. We are very pleased and I’m sure UFC is pleased. I’m sure Jon is very happy to be back and get this opportunity to fight for the heavyweight title.”
The originally proposed opponent for Jones’ heavyweight debut was Francis Ngannou, a proposed fight that dates back a couple of years. Now, Ngannou has parted ways with the UFC after both sides were unable to come to terms on a new contract. That created a vacancy atop the heavyweight division, which Jones will attempt to fill with a victory against Gane at UFC 285.
“For whatever reason, Francis decided to step aside. I respect that and wish him all the best,” Schaefer said. “And who knows if down the road that fight is going to happen? I personally think that Ciryl, with his skill set and his youth and so on is a bigger fight. It’s a bigger fight that Francis would have been. Certainly more of a challenge, and I think it just shows you how determined Jon Jones is to become heavyweight champion. For him it was never, ‘Oh, I’m not going to fight this guy or I’m not going to fight that guy.’ For him it was, ‘I don’t really care. I want to fight for the heavyweight world title. Just bring whoever it is.’ That’s why he’s the GOAT. That’s what GOATs do.”