Coach: I Don’t See Why Francis Ngannou vs. Jon Jones Wouldn’t Be $50 Million Fight

Jon Jones is looking for a big payday against Francis Ngannou and his coach is all for it.

Jones is the former UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion. He vacated the gold in an effort to move up to the heavyweight division. While most expected him to challenge Ngannou for the UFC Heavyweight Title, Jones is at odds with the UFC over money.

Appearing on Submission Radio, Jones’ coach Mike Winkeljohn said he feels Jones deserves a sizable paycheck if he’s expected to take the fight with Ngannou (h/t MMAFighting.com).

“Gosh, I look at the big fights. I think this fight can be easily as [big as] some of the big Mayweather fights out there. What did Floyd Mayweather make? A hundred million? I don’t know. You know, that type of thing. [Mayweather] was kind of his own promoter. So, Jon’s gotta share that with the UFC as far as on pay-per-view buys.

“But I don’t see why it wouldn’t be a $50 million fight. And the UFC still makes bank and is able to pay off a lot of the debt they have and go forward. I think the UFC needs a superstar like Jon Jones. I think Conor [McGregor] was the guy for a while, and he’s fallen off. But those big names are what makes the UFC money, ultimately.”

Ngannou captured the UFC Heavyweight Title at UFC 260. He defeated Stipe Miocic via second-round knockout to win the gold. A recent report from ESPN claims that the UFC tried booking Ngannou vs. Lewis 2 for June 12 but the date wasn’t feasible for the heavyweight champion.