Dana White Wrong, Nike Will Continue To Sponsor Manny Pacquiao

Last week, UFC Light Heavyweight champion Jon Jones made the headlines when news broke that he had just signed a big sponsorship deal with Nike. Although Anderson Silva inked the first big deal with Nike, Jones's sponsorship will be on a much larger scale. Jones is the first globally sponsored mixed martial artist for Nike and will appear in ads world wide. His manager Malki Kawa gives some insight on the deal.

Following last weekend's UFC 150, MMA Weekly caught up with UFC president Dana White for his thoughts on the deal and Dana had a shocking revelation:

They’re shutting down the Manny Pacquiao line and starting up the Jon Jones line. I don’t know why they shut down the Pacquiao line, but they did and that (expletive) was selling like hot cakes. I got Manny Pacquiao (expletive) from Nike.

Unfortunately for White, that is 100% wrong. ABC-CBN News clarifies the situation with Manny Pacquiao's adviser:

[Michael] Koncz told Boxing Scene’s Ronnie Nathanielsz that not only does Nike maintain its close relationship with Pacquiao, he also said the company has "new deals in store for the eight division world champion." Koncz said the executives at Nike’s headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon felt the comments by Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White that Nike had dropped Pacquiao were "pretty amusing."

Jon Jones is expected to make his first appearance in Nike gear at UFC 151. He will defend his title against veteran fighter and knockout artist Dan Henderson at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, NV on September 1.

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