"Pay it up" - Luke Rockhold urges UFC to pay Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou their worth

Luke Rockhold hopes Jon Jones gets his deserved amount from the UFC so we can finally see the former light-heavyweight champ make his long overdue heavyweight debut. According to Rockhold, the financial part is the biggest hurdle on the way for Jones to return to the octagon.

Another to join the fighter pay brigade, Rockhold also urged the UFC to pay heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou and other fighters their deserved salaries. The former UFC middleweight champ recently told Helen Yee:

"Hopefully they can get the deal done, they can get him to fight. I think that's the biggest thing, is the UFC and him need to come to an agreement. They need to pay the man. Jon Jones earned his place. No matter all the bulls**t he's done he's still earned his paycheck. So stop fighting these guys for the paychecks and just pay him. Francis, paid. Jon, paid. So and so, paid. Pay pay pay pay pay. Pay it up. Let's go fight but you gotta pay us."

Watch Rockhold's interview with Helen Yee below:

Luke Rockhold is himself preparing for an octagon return against former middleweight title challenger Paulo Costa. While they were earlier slated to fight in July, the matchup has now reportedly been moved to August.

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Jon Jones reveals the reason behind the delay in his return

Jon Jones has been eyeing a heavyweight return for the better part of a year. The former light heavyweight champ has finalized an opponent in Stipe Miocic even though it remains unclear if his salary negotiations with the UFC have reached a conclusion.

Jones was originally supposed to fight Miocic on July 2 during International Fight Week in Las Vegas. However, the matchup has now reportedly been moved to a yet-to-be-announced UFC card scheduled for September 24.

Jones believes it is Miocic who asked for the Semptember date and claimed to be fine with it. The 34-year-old said during a recent appearance on the CES broadcast, as reported by MMA Fighting :

"I heard originally it would be July 2. I think when Stipe got that date, he decided that — I heard he’s been doing a lot of weightlifting, not a lot of MMA training — he wanted to put his best foot forward. I respect that. He’s a great champion. He deserves that. I think he asked for September 24 and I’m hoping that’s going to be in Las Vegas... I’ve been training about three times a day for two years. I’m this close, why not wait a little bit longer?. I’m excited for September.”