Jon Jones was 48 hours away from cementing his legacy, possibly unifying the UFC light heavyweight belts, and headlining the biggest UFC event in history when it all came crashing down. A failed drug test, on top of his recent legal woes, was the latest in a series of controversies for Jones, but this was a perfect storm. The nightmare of nightmares. Beyond the blow to his pride, the hardest hit Jones has probably ever taken in his UFC career is the one his wallet took when he was pulled from his fight with Daniel Cormier. According to his manager Malki Kawa, it was eight figures, considering PPV revenue. That’s impressive, especially next to Brock Lesnar’s massive and historic payday.
“You’re talking about an eight-figure payday,” Kawa said. “Eight figures. Conor (McGregor) can talk about whatever he gets and all of that, Jon is by far the highest paid guy in the UFC, and the numbers that were shown that day for everybody from Brock (Lesnar) and the way down, Jon was making more than all of that. So for me, we lost out on an eight-figure payday, including myself. I wasn’t going to make eight figures, but I was going to get a percentage of that. The team was going to get a percentage of that. If you think that by any chance I’m going to sit here and be like, ‘hey man, take this supplement,’ then I’m just as stupid as the people who think that I’m an enabler.”
Kawa, who had other high-profile clients suspended for doping violations earlier this year, isn’t ready to disclose the substance Jones was flagged for. Not until he and Jones’ team can get to the bottom of what exactly happened.
“It came from something,” Kawa said. “I can tell you that much, whether it’s a supplement, there’s medication that he took that was prescribed to him by a doctor — it could’ve from there. There’s a whole bunch of different things that lead to these things across all athletes. So as this point right now, I don’t know. I have an idea, but I have to get that tested before I can sit there and say it.”
Kawa had quite a bit to say to MMA Fighting, so it’s worth heading over there to read the rest of the interview while we all twiddle our thumbs and consider the greatest fighting career to ever be flushed down the drain.
(Via MMA Fighting)