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[Sakara=Excitement]

Jon Jones

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.

[Fear My Hammer Fist]

I'm not very savy in things about sponsorship, but should the UFC be sponsoring fighters at all? It doesn't seem quite "right" or "fair" that an organization would sponsor some of its own athletes and not others.

Either of those companies would be a huge sponsor for Jones, or anybody else for that matter. I wonder how it will go. On a side note, I've recently started training (weights, running) in bare feet and won't be looking to spend money on trainers for awhile, even if Jon Jones tells me to.

[CtGreat]

Im alittle bit confused here......why does he want to be sponsored by a shoe company? Normally when people get sponsored by shoe companies, they get their own shoe. However, MMArtists dont wear shoes, so.................

[optimusjoel]

To bad these offers will disappear if he loses to Rashad.

[Fear My Hammer Fist]

Originally Posted by CtGreat

Im alittle bit confused here......why does he want to be sponsored by a shoe company? Normally when people get sponsored by shoe companies, they get their own shoe. However, MMArtists dont wear shoes, so.................

Nah, don't over think it. Just because Jones doesn't wear shoes while he fights doesn't mean he doesn't wear them when he trains, right?

Sidney Crosby has his own shoe, but wears skates in his sport.

[Fedorlei Gomipierre]

It's really funny, but I mentioned to my GF last night that Jones was being sponsored by UFC on Saturday since FORM athletics are no more and her immediate response was, "Geez, I figured a guy as big as Jones could get sponsors like Gatorade or Nike".....

This made me chuckle, good for Jones, elevates the exposure of the sport and makes another mainstream superstar that UFC NEEDS.

[Sakara=Excitement]

Originally Posted by CtGreat

Im alittle bit confused here......why does he want to be sponsored by a shoe company? Normally when people get sponsored by shoe companies, they get their own shoe. However, MMArtists dont wear shoes, so.................

Houston Alexander, Lyoto Machida, all had sponserships with LUGZ shoes. Tito Ortiz were sponsered by a rim company for a while, Lexani.

[Thamob]

Originally Posted by CtGreat

Im alittle bit confused here......why does he want to be sponsored by a shoe company? Normally when people get sponsored by shoe companies, they get their own shoe. However, MMArtists dont wear shoes, so.................

The thing is Nike Adidas and Reebok are more than just shoes now. I think they'd push work out gear with him.