If Jon Jones wants to get back in his boss’s good graces, he may have taken a step in the right direction.
Jones announced Wednesday he has hired Richard Schaefer as his new advisor. That news came on the heels of a recent revelation that the former UFC light heavyweight champion no longer was working with Malki and Abe Kawa of First Round Management, whom he had been with for more than a decade.
And while representation changes in MMA might seem to be a bit of inside baseball, they’re of particular note for Jones these days because of his continued rift with UFC president Dana White, whom he has been battling with publicly through social media and news conferences regarding what he should get paid for his next fight – which is expected to be at heavyweight, but now could be a year down the road.
The potential good news for Jones is that White seems to be a fan of Schaefer, a former CEO for boxing’s Golden Boy Promotions.
“I like Richard,” White told UFC broadcast partner ESPN. “I’ve known Richard for a long time, and obviously he built Golden Boy. He built that company. He knows what he’s doing. He’s a smart guy. I like and respect him, and if we can get something done, we will.”
Dana White, on Jon Jones retaining Richard Schaefer. “I like Richard, I’ve known Richard for a long time and obviously, he built Golden Boy. He built that company. He knows what he’s doing, he’s a smart guy. I like and respect him and if we can get something done we will.”
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) May 26, 2021
Jones (26-1 MMA, 20-1 UFC) most recently fought in February 2020, when he took a unanimous decision from Dominick Reyes to defend the 205-pound title at UFC 247. It arguably was the closest fight of his career – and two-thirds of the media outlets tracked by MMADecisions.com scored the fight for Reyes. That win came after a split call over Thiago Santos, which is the only split decision of Jones’ career so far.
In August 2020, Jones vacated the light heavyweight title to move up to heavyweight. For a while, it was presumed he would be first in line for a shot at the belt after Francis Ngannou knocked out Stipe Miocic earlier this year. But his spats with White over pay took center stage, and now Derrick Lewis is the de facto next in line. Things appear to be so frayed between Jones and White that the UFC president recently said Miocic is likely next for the Ngannou-Lewis winner.
And that may fit into Jones’ newly announced time frame. He posted on Twitter on Wednesday to say making the physical leap to heavyweight might take longer than he thought – and he’s prepared to spend the next year getting up to size and staying on the sidelines.
But at the very least, when he’s ready to return, Jones could perhaps benefit from Schaefer in his corner at the negotiating table with White and the UFC – though time will tell.
UFC boss Dana White gives seal of approval to Jon Jones’ new advisor