Jim Ross Claims That Jon Jones Is Ready For A WWE Payday

This past Saturday’s UFC 214 event was headlined by a brutal knockout by Jon “Bones” Jones, who defeated his ARCHrival Daniel Cormier to win back the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. Jones won the fight in dominant fashion in the third round after a brutal head kick and then finished Cormier off with some ground and pound against the cage.

After the fight was over, Jones called out Brock Lesnar, which was based off a story that gained steam last week when Lesnar said “anytime, anywhere” to the idea of a superfight with Jones in the UFC.

There are some issues preventing the Jones-Lesnar clash from happening any time soon as Dave Meltzer wrote at MMAFighting this week. In Meltzer’s article, he notes that it might be a year until the fight could happen due in part to Lesnar’s commitments with World Wrestling Entertainment (his deal expires after WrestleMania 34 next April) and Lesnar’s suspension with UFC as well as his retirement. While WWE let Lesnar fight in UFC while he was still under a WWE deal last year, things may be different this time. And while SI.com says a Lesnar comeback is “imminent,” needless to say, things are complicated with a Lesnar return.

In some interesting news provided by WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross on his website JRsBBQ.com, Ross noted that Jones has an interest in appearing for WWE at some point.

Jon Jones challenged Brock Lesnar after Jones KO win over Daniel Cromier at UFC 124 Saturday night and the UFC found out when they needed to know and that the public will buy a Bones-Brock battle in the Octagon. I’m thinking to the tune of 1M buys on PPV when this one likely happens in 2018. This main event gives UFC a ‘hit,’ without question, while they await other stars to either return to form (GSP) (McGregor) or continue to evolve as legit, PPV selling main eventers.

Also, I don’t see any scenario at this time that would drive any wedges between Lesnar and WWE regarding the WWE star being able to go collect a massive, seven figure plus payday while keeping his name in the public eye.

Ironically, word on the street is that Jones is also interested in a WWE payday some day in the future which adds some irony to the Bones-Brock UFC scenario.

Athletes are arguably smarter today than ever before and they realize that these massive paydays are not going to last forever plus the fact that no one ever has “enough money” contrary to public sentiment from those who actually don’t have enough money.

That’s some very interesting information provided by Ross, who isn’t the kind of man that likes to start rumors just for the sake of them. Ross likely has some sort of contact in UFC or WWE (or both) who let him know that Jones wants to appear on WWE television at some point. Keep in mind also that Ross is under WWE contract as a part time announcer that is calling the upcoming Mae Young Classic with Lita, so obviously he’s got connections from WWE’s side as well. Would WWE like JR leaking out that Jones has interest in them? Of course. Jones is a mainstream sports star and his presence would help WWE’s product in a big way.

At this point, it’s not known when or if something might happen with Jones at a WWE event, but I can see a scenario where he’s seated at ringside at the Royal Rumble or WrestleMania and they can have an altercation that gets people talking that way. Jones could also be advertised for a special appearance leading to Lesnar confronting him. Doing a worked brawl between the two men would likely be welcome by UFC because it would boost potential PPV buys, which Ross noted could be over 1 million if this fight did happen.

There’s one thing that is for sure as far as Jones and Lesnar go. The more people talk about it, the more the fans will want it and that’s good for both guys as well as UFC and WWE in the long term.

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