It’s no secret that the sport of mixed martial arts is growing rapidly just like it’s no secret that the sport of boxing is on the steady decline.
Today might have just been further proof of that.
Just recently, it was announced that UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones had inked a multi-year global sponsorship deal with Nike. Jones will receive his own signature line of Nike gear and we will likely see that come September 1 when Jones steps back into the Octagon against Dan Henderson.
How does this have anything to do with boxing?
Well, today, we’ve learned that Nike is likely dropping Manny Pacquiao with the signing of Jones.
According to MMAweekly.com, Dana White while speaking about Jones signing with Nike said, “They’re shutting down the Manny Pacquiao line and starting up the Jon Jones line.”
This may come as a surprise to many, but one of the men most surprised was White himself who went on to say, “I don’t know why they shut down the Pacquiao line, but they did and that (expletive) was selling like hot cakes. I got Manny Pacquiao (expletive) from Nike.”
Whether this is a sign of MMA taking over the combat sports world and the end of boxing nearing or if maybe it’s just a coincidence that I’m looking too much into, there is no question that Nike is saying hello to the ‘new’ and goodbye to the ‘old.’
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