Daniel Cormier reveals the staggering amount of money Dana White sent him after he lost to Jon Jones… 'It's crazy'

11/13/2024 04:42 AM

Daniel Cormier has opened up about the massive bonus Dana White gave him after he suffered his first defeat to Jon Jones.

The pair of sporting icons first met at UFC 182 on January 3, 2015, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

Daniel Cormier received a huge bonus from Dana White after losing to Jon Jones

In UFC history, there’s perhaps been no rivalry quite as fierce as Jon Jones vs Daniel Cormier.

The pair of gifted pound-for-pound athletes despised one another, creating two dramatic build-ups that captured the imagination of the public.

During a media event to promote their first contest, the rivals even engaged in a brawl inside the lobby of the MGM Grand, which, if anything, only boosted eyeballs on the event.

In the end, despite a spirited effort, ‘DC’ lost via unanimous decision. But while his ego was hurt, his bank account took a boost, with the grappler receiving a gift for selling the fight so well.

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On an episode of ‘The Pivot’, he said: “Back in 2015, I fought Jon Jones for the first time. I was making $80,000 to show up and $80,000 to win. I lost. All that, and I made $80,000.

“And I made like $80,000 on sponsorships on that night. I was like, ‘Man, for all that, I’m gonna make $150,000, it’s crazy’.

“Dana White calls me two days later, ‘Y’all killed it. The numbers were out of this world; we’re going to send you $1 million. Dude sent me a check for $1 million the next day.”

Daniel Cormier says UFC fighters make a lot more than people realize

While, on paper, mixed martial artists often don’t receive the rewards fans believe they deserve, Cormier is insistent that they make a lot more than it appears.

He explained: “And then, it was Lorenzo Fertitta at the time; he was the owner. Lorenzo liked his champions making $1 million.

“So, even if your fight purse was $350,000, and you sold another $300,000 in pay-per-views, he’d send you another $400,000 to make sure you made $1 million every time you got in there.”

Cormier added: "So, they try to protect the athlete a little bit by not showing exactly what you make. A lot of it is hidden. And you also make money on the pay-per-view side.

“So, if you become a guy like Conor McGregor, like Jones, like Israel Adesanya – you start selling pay-per-views, man, you get $2 a buy, $3 a buy, $4 a buy. Then that money really starts to go."

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