The working relationship between Jon Jones and Malki Kawa wasn’t exactly what many had envisioned.
For years, Jones had Kawa of First Round Management as his manager. The two had worked together for 11 years. That’s why it came as a surprise to many when First Round Management announced that it parted ways with Jones back in April. It was later revealed that Jones has aligned himself with former Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer.
MMAJunkie.com reached out to Kawa, who revealed that while he has no animosity towards “Bones,” the two haven’t talked in three years.
“My time with Jon Jones was great. I thought I did a hell of a job with Jon – I know that I did. I got put in a lot of bad situations as a lot of you guys already know. I stood by him. I did everything that I think a manager should do. I haven’t spoken to Jon in the last three years, so everybody thinks this split went like this and that – it’s not what everybody thinks. I had nothing to do with the Ngannou and Jones negotiations.
“That was all Jon. Not me nor my brother got involved – not anything like that. We’ve been helping him with his marketing. We continued to help him with his marketing. We still do a lot of marketing stuff for him. I know he hired Richard Schaefer, who has no idea how the UFC or Dana White or anybody works – and listen, I wish him luck. That’s my boy. I love him to death, but we don’t talk. I don’t have no ill will toward him.”
Jones is hoping to score a UFC Heavyweight Title fight against champion Francis Ngannou. The roadblock has always been a disagreement with the UFC over how much he should be paid for such a fight. UFC President Dana White has shown optimism over potential talks with Jones’s new advisor, Schaefer. Time will tell if things turn around in favor of Jones.
