Jon Jones On UFC 151 Turn Down To Cerrone: "You Dont Make A Million Dollars To Fight"

[IIIIIIII]

It's not money, it's fear. Jones is afraid to lose, Cowboy isn't.

i don't think that you can separate the money from the fearing of losing.

a lot of these guys love to fight. but it would be naive to believe that money isn't an important driving force. i think that jones was afraid of sonnen's take-downs, and he remembered what happened to anderson when he fought him the first time.

jon jones is going to have a lot better take-down defense when they fight, than if they had fought back in september.

 

[Black Joto]

Jones makes far more than that.The million is basic pay,add in untaxed bonuses,sponsorship etc and the total will be well over two.

:icon_lol:

 

[wlu29]

What? Yes there is, so you think the 6K J-Lau got from Dana for submitting Nick the Tooth a couple of times was taxed?

I'd bet my life that Dana gives unreported locker room bonus' to guys all the time

you bet your life? then you be dead

Isn't there? This may be naive of me but we always hear about the private bonuses that Dana hands out after events and I think most of us just assumed they were straight cash bonuses. Thus, tax free.

cash =/= tax free

ufc is gonna record that as expense, it's up to the fighter to claim it as tax, if they don't tax man will come a hunting

he's right, dana said it to shogun in the locker room after ufc 104. shogun thanked him for it, but it was obvious he was still bummed about losing the fight itself. thought it was in a vlog after 104, but i can't find the video. pretty sure it was on youtube

EDIT: found an article: http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2010/1/8/1240677/how-dana-white-handled-the-lyoto

that's nice of dana, but i see this more as an exception for shogun in this isolated case where he might/could have won the fight, again i don't think the ufc is in the habit of paying an additional 50% to cover taxes for fighters

 

[LongTermLurker]

Sorry, still not buying it. Jones had already had a full training camp. He had 8 days to prepare specifically for Chael, who was himself only preparing on 8 days notice, as in, an 8 day camp (presumably). He had about a month to prepare for Belfort, but that's 3 weeks more time for Belfort to prepare than Chael would have had.

And, if you ask me, Chael is more stylistically similar to Hendo than Belfort is (minus the punching power), but that's just me.

Jones and company (mostly coaches) felt Sonnen was nothing like Hendo. Greg Jackson said that in an interview after all of the mess.

 

[ShogunTBone]

Completely off topic, but the promo for 151 was actually pretty good in comparison to the others that they had done.

[YT]dWwkPG-lvMM[/YT]

 

[kflo]

Cerrone also fights guys his own size.

cerrone is a tall lw

 

[Iplaytolose]

Well for Jon, he has a lot more riding on fights. 95% of the fighters in the UFC have to take as many fights as they can get, and being a champion along with making that kind of money, they have to be more calculated and rational in making decisions. That power of making decisions for the benefit of your career comes with the territory of being champion, which other fighters dont have, so they have to take whatever the fights they can because of the limited leverage.

 

[IIIIIIII]

I'd bet my life that Dana gives unreported locker room bonus' to guys all the time

oh, i'm sure he does.

but you have to ask yourself why dana white and the ufc are so, "hush-hush" about the way they pay their fighters. i think it's obvious that the reason why they do this, is to distract from the overall revenue percentage that they are taking in. i would love to see the percentage the fighters make, in comparison to the percentage the ufc as a company takes.

i understand that the ufc is a growing business and that they need a lot of money to keep it going. it just seems that they're cutting themselves too big of a piece of the pie.

 

[OmegaRugal]

Seems to me making a million dollars per fight is all the more reason to not withdraw.

Wrong ... it's more important to withdraw if you feel there is a chance you will lose because of not being ready.

Jones is already a millionaire ... his best chance to continue winning is to always be prepared.

Taking a fight while unprepared could cost him his title and then his money.

It's pretty simple.

 

[kflo]

Sorry, still not buying it. Jones had already had a full training camp. He had 8 days to prepare specifically for Chael, who was himself only preparing on 8 days notice, as in, an 8 day camp (presumably). He had about a month to prepare for Belfort, but that's 3 weeks more time for Belfort to prepare than Chael would have had.

And, if you ask me, Chael is more stylistically similar to Hendo than Belfort is (minus the punching power), but that's just me.

jackson explained that the days to prep in reality were like 2. it is VERY different than having a month. they didn't want to go into a fight feeling unprepared. they had sufficient prep time for belfort. didn't matter if the opponent was also more prepared.

 

[osudude]

Jones and company (mostly coaches) felt Sonnen was nothing like Hendo. Greg Jackson said that in an interview after all of the mess.

That's a matter of opinion. I'll agree that Sonnen isn't terribly similar to Hendo, but I think Belfort is more disimilar to Hendo than Sonnen is. In other words, I thought Jones had a better shot at Sonnen on 8 days than Belfort on a month (and Belfort made Jones sweat). But that's just my opinion, YMMV.

 

[milkywaygalxee**]

this is true.

ufc 151 was an interesting battle between company and employer. when jones refused to take the fight, the ufc tried to bully him via bad public press. jones didn't budge, and the card was scrapped.

it was an overall victory for the fighters. it proved that the fighters have a lot more control in how the ufc operates.

Absolutely. The UFC NEEDS fighters. They start tossing them aside to prove a point and they go under. If Dana White wants people to ride for him in these situations I suggest he start acting more like a professional executive and STOP trying to act like he's one of the fighters. No one is buying it except the young, and the PERMANENTLY young.

 

[bubkusjones]

I think he means Jones stock dropping in terms of being thought of as an unstoppable and unbeaten champion.

If you have ever been to a signing session Jones usually has the largest booths and is also one of the only fighters talked about on ESPN news so I dont see him losing that crowd. He actually has Lebron James giving him shout outs so jones is good to go with that crowd as is Anderson and GSP.

Because that's a problem for Anderson Silva or GSP? They're not getting the big money, or the high-end endorsements or drawing in the PPV percentage bonuses, right?

Get real. A loss to Chael at 151 (however unlikely) would've done very little to his overall "brand" in the long run. May even make him a better fighter, like GSP's and Velasquez' losses. In the end, even if he lost, most people wouldn't take it seriously, since it was such short notice (though he did have a full camp for Hendo) and Jones would most likely get an immediate rematch (i.e. they could've fought at 151, Chael somehow wins, and they set up TUF to hype up the rematch). Jones wins that and he's back to where he belongs, with only a slight hiccup along the way.

Why? You think he only gets X number of fights and by not taking it he gets one less?

In a way, yeah. Fighters fight an average of what, 2-3 fights per year? Fighters generally have a limited number of years in which to make their money before demand/ability start declining (the so-called "Prime" years). The fewer fights one takes in that time, the less money there is to be made. Of course, you can argue that by not taking the fight now, he's delaying the physical toll a fight would take on his body and thus, extending his career by one fight (but we know that's not the only issue with fighters as they age).


In the end, Jones had every right to decline the fight at that time, but that doesn't make him blameless, nor does everyone have to agree with his choice (or think it was the proper thing to do).

 

[EmeliankoFan1]

Because that's a problem for Anderson Silva or GSP? They're not getting the big money, or the high-end endorsements or drawing in the PPV percentage bonuses, right?

Get real. A loss to Chael at 151 (however unlikely) would've done very little to his overall "brand" in the long run. May even make him a better fighter, like GSP's and Velasquez' losses. In the end, even if he lost, most people wouldn't take it seriously, since it was such short notice (though he did have a full camp for Hendo) and Jones would most likely get an immediate rematch (i.e. they could've fought at 151, Chael somehow wins, and they set up TUF to hype up the rematch). Jones wins that and he's back to where he belongs, with only a slight hiccup along the way.



In a way, yeah. Fighters fight an average of what, 2-3 fights per year? Fighters generally have a limited number of years in which to make their money before demand/ability start declining (the so-called "Prime" years). The fewer fights one takes in that time, the less money there is to be made. Of course, you can argue that by not taking the fight now, he's delaying the physical toll a fight would take on his body and thus, extending his career by one fight (but we know that's not the only issue with fighters as they age).


In the end, Jones had every right to decline the fight at that time, but that doesn't make him blameless, nor does everyone have to agree with his choice (or think it was the proper thing to do).

I am not saying that it will, I was agreeing with you, I think his stock will be fine. I even think his stock may go up with a loss and Jones may come back with a vengeance and a new found spirit to destroy the LHW division.

But I was in agreement with you. I actually would rather see Jones take a loss and come back to the LWH division angry and meaner and putting fighters out quicker, it would make for some great drama and scaring LHW's.

Shalom

 

[osudude]

Wrong ... it's more important to withdraw if you feel there is a chance you will lose because of not being ready.

Jones is already a millionaire ... his best chance to continue winning is to always be prepared.

Taking a fight while unprepared could cost him his title and then his money.

It's pretty simple.

Already been over it.

In any case, you seem to be saying that Jones was more worried about losing than the money (he's already a millionaire, right?). There's nothing wrong with that excuse, but don't disguise it as a money thing.

 

[r-harper-1]

Cowboy-fighter
Jones-athlete

This

 

[kflo]

it's delusional to think a loss to sonnen doesn't damage his brand. he's the most dominant fighter the ufc has seen. he has aspirations beyond lhw champ. his dominance is part of his sell.

now, of course, his brand took a hit by not fighting as well.

 

[JoseAldoKillaBe]

Jones being Jones.

 

[r-harper-1]

It's not money, it's fear. Jones is afraid to lose, Cowboy isn't.

To Sonnen

 

[kflo]

Already been over it.

In any case, you seem to be saying that Jones was more worried about losing than the money (he's already a millionaire, right?). There's nothing wrong with that excuse, but don't disguise it as a money thing.

the consequence of losing is greater BECAUSE OF THE MONEY. of course, it's more than JUST money.

i'm not commenting on whether he made the smart choice, but money involved obviously does impact the thought process.