In the final lead up to Jon Jones’ UFC 182 title defense against Daniel Cormier, a statement made by Jones caught the eye (ear?) of many MMA media members. Jones stated that he did not lose his deal with Nike as a result of his wild press conference brawl with Cormier but instead Nike was looking to get out of the MMA space.
Maybe not a huge deal in isolation, but, taken with statements Jones made to the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC), there was a bit of an issue.
See, Jones was under oath in front of the NSAC while discussing the brawl and, as part of his attempt to keep the commission from being too harsh with their punishments, said that he had lost the Nike deal because of the brawl. He cited that as part of the money he had already lost because of his actions.
So, it appeared that Jones was saying that he lied under oath at a government hearing.
Now, the Nevada deputy attorney general is reviewing the incident to see if Jones perjured himself. Marc Raimondi at MMA Fighting had the details:
NAC executive director Bob Bennett said the commission is aware of Jones’ comments prior to UFC 182 and the matter has been sent up the ladder.
“They’re considering it for review,” Bennett said. “It’s nothing new to us.
“It would be concerning if anyone lied during testimony.”
Jones has recently said that he “worded it wrong” in front of the commission and actually meant that he lost a few months in revenue checks and didn’t get to use his Nike account credit. At the time of the hearing, Jones’ attorney pointed out that the deal they lost was in the six figures every year. So, it would seem at least a little deceptive in the wording if they weren’t actually trying to say that the brawl cost him that money.
Bloody Elbow will have more on the story as more information becomes available.
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