Jon Jones Earned $500,000 For His Title Defense At UFC 182


UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones took home a reported $500,000 for his successful title defense against Daniel Cormier on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

In the main event of UFC 182, Jones defeated Cormier by unanimous decision at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. All three cage side judges had the fight scored 49-46 in favor of Jon Jones. The highly anticipated match was a mixture of wrestling and striking that saw Jones win four of the five rounds. Cormier came out on top in round two, but he just couldn’t sustain any momentum from that point. The fight appeared close in round three, which included an eye poke from Jones and a warning from the referee, but Jones was able to pull away on the judge’s scorecards during the closing two rounds.

Cormier suffered his first MMA defeat at the hands of Jones, taking his record to 15-1. Jon Jones improved his record to 21-1, with Jones’ only loss coming against Matt Hamill back in December 2009.

The $500,000 purse that Jones took home Saturday night was guaranteed whether he won or lost the fight. By comparison, Jon’s opponent (Cormier) took home $90,000 for the fight.

It doesn’t appear that Jones will be wasting any time before heading back to fight camp to train. Despite a past history of not training between fights, Jones told Fox Sports 1 that his attitude has changed due to a recent re-location to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

“We’re happy, we have good friends. I feel complete now. I already told my coaches, ‘Don’t expect any BS from me.’ I’ll be back in practice as soon as my face heals, probably within a week. I’m getting right back to work.”

For his next title defense, Jones will face the winner of the Alexander Gustafsson and Anthony Johnson UFC on FOX 14 bout. Jones previously fought, and defeated, Gustafsson at UFC 165 in a five round classic that sent both men to the hospital.

The Nevada Athletic Commission also released fight purses for the other fighters who were in action Saturday night at UFC 182, though all of them pale in comparison to Jon Jones’ check.

In the co-main event of the evening, lightweight Donald Cerrone took home $140,000 for his victory over Myles Jury. Jury received $16,000 in defeat. Further down the card, Hector Lombard pocketed $106,000 in his unanimous decision victory against Josh Burkman ($45,000). The next highest earners on Saturday night were Evan Dunham ($54,000), Brad Tavares ($50,000), and Nate Marquardt ($49,000).

It should be noted that the above earnings, released by the Nevada Athletic Commission, do not include any performance based or discretionary bonuses that might be paid to the fighters by the UFC. Deductions made by the state of Nevada for taxes and insurances are also not included in the figures.

[Image via Yahoo Sports]

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