Jon Jones no longer working with First Round Management, Malki Kawa issues statement

Jon Jones will no longer be repped by First Round Management.

On Monday evening, the management company took to social media to announce their relationship is over. It caught the MMA world by surprise, given the fact the Kawa’s have been working with the former light heavyweight champ for years.

After an 11 year journey as @JonnyBones management team, First Round Management and Bones have amicably decided to part ways. We are proud of him and the work we’ve done. We wish him the best going forward.

— FirstRoundMgmt (@FirstRoundMgmt) April 26, 2021

“After an 11 year journey as @JonnyBones management team, First Round Management and Bones have amicably decided to part ways. We are proud of him and the work we’ve done. We wish him the best going forward,” First Round Management tweeted.

It is interesting to see them part ways now given Jones is in the middle of contract negotiations for his heavyweight move. After he beat Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 in February of 2020, he announced he was vacating the belt and moving up to heavyweight to fight for the belt.

After Francis Ngannou became the heavyweight champ, the talks only intensified for Jones to make the heavyweight move. However, Dana White has said Jones was asking for $30 million. “Bones” disputed that which could’ve played a factor in him parting ways with First Round Management.

I never discussed wanting 30 million with you or Hunter @danawhite just wondering where you heard that number? Is someone speaking with you on my behalf or…

— BONY (@JonnyBones) April 23, 2021

“I never discussed wanting 30 million with you or Hunter @danawhite just wondering where you heard that number? Is someone speaking with you on my behalf or,” Jones tweeted.

Malki Kawa, however, says them parting ways has nothing to do with the Ngannou negotiations.

“Sometimes it’s best to just walk away. Glad to have repped the p4p best fighter in @jonnybones for the last 11years. No this had nothing to do with his Ngannou negotiations. Jon has been handling that negotiation on his own and has been as he wanted to speak for himself when it came to the last few fights, so no, sorry fans, you can’t blame me. We all agreed it was just best to start over. @abraham and I are working on a lot of major things at #frm and sometimes you just have to know when to say when,” Kawa wrote on Instagram.

First Round does manage Derrick Lewis who is likely to get the next heavyweight title shot after Jones priced himself out. However, according to Kawa, he says Jones was the one who was doing the negotiation himself, so it’s uncertain a deal will be made.

What do you make of Jon Jones parting ways with his management company?