Jon “Bones” Jones was not dropped by Nike following his infamous brawl with Daniel Cormier at the MGM Grand Hotel after all.
Speaking on a UFC 182 conference call Monday evening, Jones talked about the events leading up to his release from Nike and subsequent signing with Reebok, dropping a bombshell in saying that Nike did not officially “drop” him. The split was mutual, and it was imminent months before the events that took place inside the MGM.
Jones originally told the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) the brawl sparked his release from Nike, but now it appears that is not the case.
“The truth about the Nike deal is—and when I was in front of the commission, I definitely worded it wrong—Nike did not drop me because of that fight,” Jones said. “The truth is, Nike didn’t seem as if they wanted to move forward in the field of MMA. They weren’t activating me in the way they said they would.
“They promised me a lot of commercials and all types of stuff outside of the financial and the merchandise. My rep came to me and he said, ‘Hey, Jon, I’m sorry sorry. I know we promised you this, but I don’t think we’re moving in that direction.'”
Jones continued to say Nike planned to keep him on board for the remainder of his contract but he respectfully declined that offer, preferring to go his own way and look to sign with a company that was more committed to him and to the sport of MMA as a whole.
“I was going to get ready to start my third year of the deal and I told them, I said, ‘You know what? If you guys aren’t too serious about mixed martial arts, then I don’t want to be with the company. Hopefully I can respectfully leave,'” Jones said. “And they said, ‘Jon, if you don’t like the deal we have in place, then we’ll give you that out.'”
He took that out, and the plans were in place for him to leave Nike at that time, “months” before the brawl, by his recollection.
The scrap expedited the situation, though, and Jones’ Nike representative contacted him in the fallout of that event.
“…my rep called me and he said, ‘Jon, I know we were going to wait another month or two before having you sign a contract to release you, but since you got in the fight, let’s just have you sign this paperwork now, and let’s just not waste your time and allow you to go your own way,'” Jones said.
In this light, it appears Jones’ Nike release was mutual and amicable. While the brawl was not the primary impetus behind the split, it facilitated the process, freeing up Jones to sign his most recent deal with Reebok.
While this news ultimately doesn’t change anything about where Jones currently sits—he was going to end up with Reebok either way—it’s interesting to note Jones’ previous failure to communicate accurately in front of the NAC.
At this time, it remains unclear if Jones intentionally misled the NAC regarding the situation or if he genuinely misspoke and conveyed the wrong message at the hearing.
Stay tuned to Bleacher Report for more news and quotes surrounding Jones’ upcoming fight with Cormier at UFC 182 on Jan. 3.
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