Jon Jones’ agent “talking to three of the four major shoe companies” including NIKE and Adidas
By Micah Hinchliffe:
Following the destruction of FORM Athletics, Jon Jones and his agent Malki Kawa have been setting their sights high in attempting to strike up a deal with NIKE. Jones made it clear in a conference call how he did not wish to limit himself to the same old MMA sponsors such as Tapout or Musclepharm.
That’s where the UFC’s help came in. To bridge the gap between the negotiations and the loss of sponsorship the UFC itself is now sponsoring Jones and has agreed to let him go should a mainstream company sponsor him. Recently, on The MMA Show with Mauro Ranallo, Kawa gave news that negotiations are well underway and not just with NIKE but two other major shoe companies including Adidas:
“I was approached by very major sponsor in MMA and all the minor ones. We looked at all the deals, but there’s there other opportunities outside MMA. If I had entered into a deal with any of these companies I would have derailed the goal of getting Jon Jones sponsored by one of the major shoe companies. I’m talking to three of the four major shoe companies right now. One of them is the one with the big check mark, but Adidas is the second biggest company. I’m talking to them all.”
With the likelihood of Jones being sponsored by a major shoe company, the doors could be opened for many other fighters in the UFC. Interestingly, Kawa mentioned Adidas, a company that already has an MMA and Boxing training gear range. Could this be the future of MMA sponsorship? It could be possible that NIKE may hold future plans for a range themselves in the years to come. It’s clear from these developments that the direct sponsorship of the UFC is not a favoritism of Jones but an investment into new MMA marketing possibilities.
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A young writer from London with experience in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai. Currently trains at...
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This is what puts off true mma fans. Real fighters are not worried about sponsorship. They just fight.. why is team jackson guys like this. Just fight. That’s all I want to hear about.
That’s why his agent malki kawa is handling the sponsorship. There people that do business and theres people that fight.
I think you have it backwards.
You = Not a true MMA fan
JJ = Real Fighter
who cares? i just wanna see him fight.
What the hell do you know are you a real fighter have you ever been in a cage real fighters are worried about supporting themselves and sponsorships pay more money then MMA does in most cases get away from the idea that real fighters would fight for free it’s not true
Only sponsor he is gonna get after this fight is Big and Tall. War Rashad!!!!
@Team buffalo
+5 WAR RASHAD
GSP money?
I think it’s a good sign that big companies are considering sponsorship. Let’s not forget that Anderson Silva has already got an Endorsement deal with Nike. Until MMA gets bigger outside of the usual MMA fans fighters are not likely to make the same money as top tear boxers so why not get a little extra from Endorsements. Michael Jordan made many times more money for his commercials than he ever did from the NBA. Any athlete has a short time where they can do there craft as a job so why not make what you can when you can.
Who cares if John Jones is talking to people about sponsorship. I am not a fan of his but good luck to him every other professional athlete earns a crap load of cash so why shouldnt he??
Heard he wanted his own line of butt plugs! They can stay in for all 5 rounds and won’t even know its there