Jon Jones, Daniel Cormier Fined by NAC for UFC 178 Media Day Brawl

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and 205-pound top contender Daniel Cormier appeared before the Nevada Athletic Commission to discuss their August brawl at a press event. Both fighters received modest punishments, which ensured their fight will still go down in Las Vegas at UFC 182 on January 3. The entire hearing was broadcast live on UFC Fight Pass.

Jones appeared first and was quiet and repentant in talking with the Commission, accepting blame for the brawl and basically asking for leniency. In light of Jones' honesty and claims that he lost his much-hyped sponsorship with Nike due to the brawl (and also had another major sponsor leave the bargaining table), he was given a $50,000 fine and 40 hours of community service.

"

Motion passes, $50,000 fine and 40 hours of community service for Jones.

— Kevin Iole (@KevinI) September 23, 2014"

Jones was quick to take to Twitter afterward, shrugging off the fine but expressing concerns regarding how the community service may affect his camp:

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40 hours of community service in Vegas with a fight coming up is the only thing that really concerns me.

— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) September 23, 2014"

"

The fact that this needs to be completed before the fight is definitely going to have effect on my camp. I respect the commission though

— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) September 23, 2014"

Cormier, meanwhile, was slightly less repentant as he largely placed blame on Jones for the altercation for both the initial aggression in touching foreheads and then throwing the punch that set the situation off. Accordingly, he received a lesser penalty with a $9,000 fine (10 percent of his guaranteed purse) and 20 hours of community service:

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Daniel Cormier, like Jon Jones, will be fined 10% of his guaranteed purse. That's $9,000. DC also gets 20 hours of community service.

— Josh Gross (@yay_yee) September 23, 2014"

For those who don't remember, Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier had one of the biggest press conference brawls in MMA history back in August.

The scuffle saw Jon Jones shove UFC Senior Director of Public Relations Dave Sholler off the back of the stage, move forward and throw a punch at Cormier.

From there, the two light heavyweights fell off the back of the stage where they proceeded to throw punches before being pulled apart, before Cormier threw his shoe at Jones. Jones then got back onto the stage and howled at the crowd. From there, the two had a heated exchange off-camera (they believed) following an interview on ESPN.

Unsurprisingly, the Nevada Athletic Commission offered a slap on the wrist for Jones and Cormier that left the date and place for the fight untouched. Former light heavyweight and middleweight title contender Chael Sonnen was recently suspended for two years, effectively ending his career, following a failed drug test. Belfort, meanwhile, was offered a faux suspension that still afforded him the opportunity for a December title fight opposite Chris Weidman in Las Vegas, which has been pushed to February due to a Weidman injury.