UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones is in Toronto this week for a title defense at UFC 165 and MMAFighting.com caught up with him to discuss among other things, the difference in pay between boxers and mixed martial artists. Floyd Mayweather Jr. will make upwards of $100,000,000 for his fight this past weekend in Las Vegas and Jones gave his thoughts on it:
“It’s ridiculous,” said Jones, adding “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.”
