This weekend at UFC 165 UFC Light Heavyweight Jon Jones will walk into the ring sporting two sponsor logos that we thought we’d never see in the UFC; Nike and Gatorade. When it comes to sports, those are two of the biggest sponsorship deals that an athlete can land, and according to Jon Jones’s manager, Malki Kawa, they were the two sponsorships that Jones most desired when he was first getting started in the UFC.
There have already been parallels made to Michael Jordan, who also sported those logos during his prime.
“I’m going to tell you something, and I’m not going to lie — I’m probably the proudest I’ve ever been working with Jon Jones over this Gatorade deal,” Kawa told MMA Fighting. “The reason I’m saying that, it’s a combination of both [this deal and the Nike deal]. When I first met Jon he told me his ultimate goal was to be sponsored by Nike and Gatorade. This is something he wanted from he day he set foot in this, from the day he started competing.
“So for me to sit back and say, we broke down some barriers, that we went after it, and that he did everything he had to do to get it? And to finally sit down and watch it come together on a fight, where he can also set the record for becoming the best light heavyweight ever with the most defenses, and to see those two companies on his shorts? It made me feel really good. I’m proud about that Nike deal. That Nike deal was the biggest thing ever. But I’m just as proud about the Gatorade deal. And I’m even more proud that it all comes together.”