Jon Jones’ agent, Malki Kawa, is the latest to publicly speak about the disconnect between Jones and the UFC. On a recent episode of The MMA Hour, Kawa said that there’s a lot of work to do to mend the personal relationship between the two sides.
“I think his relationship with the UFC is OK,” says Kawa . “I think it’s a professional, working relationship. I think there’s a lot of repair that has to happen on both sides. There’s just a lot of things that need to get aired out and talked about and I think that will happen.”
Jon Jones broached the subject during an interview with Ariel Helwani.
“They had never came to see me before about anything. They never traveled to come say hi or have dinner. The first time they came to Albuquerque to visit me was to take my belt away.
“Honestly, Lorenzo did seem like he really cared. Lorenzo seemed very genuine. He looked me in the eyes the whole time and said, ‘How are you doing?’ At the time, I didn’t know how I was feeling. I was all over the place emotionally. But at the end of the day, it was a business meeting still. It definitely wasn’t one that went in my favor.”
The more that Jones’ camp grumbles about their relationship with the UFC, the more it seems like Jon has a sense of entitlement. After what he put his company through this year, Jon should expect a bit of trepidation. Failed drug test, rampant cocaine allegations, hit & run charges, the video of the crime scene; all of these things paint Jon in a different light and frankly the UFC would look bad if they didn’t treat Jon differently.
Jon must realize that he’s lost his bargaining power in the court of public opinion. He no longer has the benefit of the doubt, no longer is he protected by his ‘Man of God’ persona. He should be happy to be able to continue competing in the sport he loves because a fighter with lesser talent would’ve been gone a long time ago.
