The hit-and-run felony saga of Jon Jones continues to spiral out of control. Last week brought us the cancellation of his UFC 187 title defense, the stripping of his light heavyweight title, and an indefinite suspension from competition by the UFC. Now Jon’s manager Malki Kawa is teasing the possibility that Jones may be done competing in MMA for good.
Kawa appeared on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Hour podcast this Monday to discuss his client’s future, and he painted a less than positive picture regarding the chances of Jon Jones returning to the Octagon:
“What I can just tell you and you guys can read between the lines is that I think every athlete comes to a point and it’s not just Jon Jones,” Kawa said. “I’ve had other guys when they look in the mirror one day, they realize that a lot of it maybe is just sometimes too much. It’s just too much. If you don’t fight a guy on seven days notice, you’re trash. If you stop a mugger, you’re a great guy, thanks so much. Now you’re the new world champion, you have to do all these interviews. There’s so much that goes into it. It’s not just him, that’s what I’m trying to tell you. You see it with GSP, you see it with Anderson.”
…
“If this is the last time we’ve ever seen him fight and it very well may be, then it’s because of a decision he’s decided to make. It won’t be because of something you guys are perceiving to be a problem. It won’t be because of any of the negative headlines of the positive things he’s done. It’s just because he feels he’s had it. Maybe that’s it.”
Unfortunately, it’s hard to know from the outside exactly where Jon Jones’ head is at this point. There’s a nearly endless list of reasons why Kawa might be talking up the possibility of Jones leaving the sport. Maybe he’s trying to shift public opinion from “F*ck that guy” to “Please Jon don’t leave!,” both with the fans and UFC upper management. Pretty much any headline is better than the ones that continue to come out following this hit-and-run.
Or maybe there is way more truth to his retirement claims than we’d like to admit and Malki Kawa is preparing us for a statement to come from Jones himself. At the very least his comments imply a growing rift between Jones and the UFC — last week Jon just wanted to concentrate on training for his title shot. Now that his promotion has stripped and suspended him, he may never fight again?
Jones has been fighting at the top of the fight game for long enough to have already made his millions. But his Instagram paints a picture of someone who enjoys spending his money as well — his homes are lavish mansions and he owns a $400,000 Bentley amongst several other luxury vehicles.
At just 27 years of age he’d be leaving a mind boggling amount of money on the table by walking away from the sport now. But as we’ve learned over the past couple of incidents, Jon Jones doesn’t always do the rational thing.