Esteemed MMA journalist Ariel Helwani claims Jon Jones turned down a whopping $30million to fight Tom Aspinall earlier this year.

The payday would have been a record-high for a UFC fighter, exceeding Brock Lesnar 's $8m purse for his bout with Mark Hunt in 2016 by $22m.

To put the figure into perspective, the UFC's highest career earner, Conor McGregor , is estimated to have pocketed $39.3m in up-front fees during the course of his 14-fight stint with MMA 's premier promotion.

The revelation begs the question as to why Jones would turn down such a large amount of money.

And Helwani thinks he knows the answer.

"I think he [Jones] didn't want to fight him [Aspinall]," Helwani told the Impaulsive Podcast.

"I think it was a calculated decision on his part. Why did you drag this

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