Three months ago, UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones told the Nevada State Athletic Commission he "had lost an endorsement deal with Nike as the result of an infamous brawl" with fellow fighter Daniel Cormier, but during a teleconference Monday he said that the separation "was a mutually agreed upon decision that was solidified 'months' before the incident," according to Steven Marrocco of MMA JUNKIE. Jones: "When I was in front of the commission, I definitely worded it wrong. Nike did not drop me because of that fight. And I kind of owe an apology to Nike for saying that they dropped me because of the fight." He added, "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 (Nike) rep came to me and said, ‘I know we promised you this, but I don’t think we’re moving in that direction.’ So they said we will keep you on board as long as you want to be on board. ... I had just finished the second year of my deal, and I was going to get ready to start my third year of the deal, and I told them, ‘You know what? If you guys aren’t too serious about martial arts, then I don’t want to be a part of the company.'" But Marrocco noted the brawl "actually did accelerate his release from the contract, despite his assertion that the deal was already off, at least in principle" (MMAJUNKIE.com, 12/29). Jones said the split "was already official" prior to the brawl. Jones: "Everybody at headquarters knew. My team knew that I wasn't gonna do my third year with Nike. And then we got into the brawl." MMAFIGHTING.com's Marc Raimondi notes Jones "subsequently signed a deal with Reebok, the company the UFC will use as its official uniform sponsor." Reebok is "much more invested in MMA right now than Nike and Jones is happy about that" (MMAFIGHTING.com, 12/29).
