Nike Signs Jon Jones, Removes Manny Pacquiao's Sponsorship

It's no secret that the sport of mixed martial arts is growing rapidly, just like it's no secret that the sport of boxing is on the steady decline.

This might just be further proof of that.

Just recently, it was announced that UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones had inked a multi-year global sponsorship deal with Nike. Jones will receive his own signature line of Nike gear, which we will likely see come September 1, when Jones steps back into the Octagon against Dan Henderson.

How does this have anything to do with boxing?

Well, Nike is likely dropping Manny Pacquiao as a result of Jones.

According to MMAweekly.com, Dana White while speaking about Jones signing with Nike said, “They’re shutting down the Manny Pacquiao line and starting up the Jon Jones line."

This may come as a surprise to many, but one of the men most surprised was White himself, who went on to say, "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."

This might be a sign of MMA taking over the combat sports world and the end of boxing nearing, or maybe it's just a coincidence that I'm looking too much into, but there is no question that Nike is saying hello to the new and goodbye to the old.

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