Daniel Cormier explains why UFC is more likely to pay Conor McGregor $30 million for his return than Jon Jones: "Sustainable business"

There is a higher probability of Conor McGregor being the recipient of a $30 million paycheck from the UFC than Jon Jones. That is, at least, according to UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier. On a recent video uploaded to his official YouTube channel, Cormier shared his thoughts on Jones' current predicament.

The reigning UFC heavyweight champion has reportedly demanded $30 million to face Tom Aspinall, who is the promotion's interim heavyweight champion. However, Cormier does not believe that such a purse would be offered to Jones, arguing that those numbers are reserved only for McGregor.

"Conor McGregor comes back to fight and goes, 'I want $30 million to fight.' The UFC considers it. Why? Because when Conor McGregor was scheduled to fight at International Fight Week, the gate was $22 million. Sustainable business. You've got to be able to sustain your business if you're going to be paying those types of numbers."

Cormier supports his claim by further breaking down how massive a draw McGregor has been for the UFC throughout the years.

"Conor makes $22 million at the gate, Conor has sponsorships, Conor definitely sells a million and a half, two million pay-per-views. You can almost understand Conor McGregor saying, 'Give me the $30 million' and why it might happen. I don't know if [Jon] Jones does that."

Check out Daniel Cormier questioning Jon Jones' reported $30 million purse (3:08):

Unfortunately, the UFC may have to budge on any request Jones makes if they intend to book the Aspinall fight. After all, following his successful heavyweight title defense against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309, 'Bones' was clear in saying that he will only fight Aspinall if he is well compensated.

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The UFC previously tried to book Conor McGregor's octagon return

The Irishman was slated to return at UFC 303. Unfortunately, he fractured his big toe and withdrew from his main event bout with Michael Chandler, drawing tremendous criticism from the MMA world.

With little recourse left, the promotion called upon the services of Alex Pereira and Jiří Procházka, both of whom more than delivered on fan expectation. Meanwhile, McGregor was left without an official return date thereafter, but is tentatively expected to return sometime this year.