Jon Jones has announced that his new advisor is none other than Ex-Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer after recently parted ways with his long time manager Malki Kawa of First Round Management.
“I have retained Richard Schaefer as my advisor,” Jones stated on social media. “Richard has been in the combat sports space for over 20 years and has put together some of the biggest pay-per-view events over that period. The likes of [Floyd] Mayweather, [Oscar] De La Hoya, Canelo [Alvarez], [Bernard] Hopkins, [Marco Antonio] Barrera and [Juan Manuel] Marquez have headlined exciting events that Richard has promoted and produced.
“His knowledge and experience of the pay-per-view industry and combat sports are second to none. I am excited to embark on this next chapter of my career as I continue to cement my place in history as one of the greats with Richard as my advisor. I can’t wait to give my fans and the sport the fights they want to see.”
Meanwhile, Schaefer, who left Golden Boy in 2014 after a falling out with Oscar De La Hoya, and later founded the World Boxing Super Series, also released a statement confirming that he’d be working with Jones.
“It is an honor and a privilege to be able to work with such an amazing athlete and person like Jon Jones,” Schaefer said. “Jon is the gold standard of UFC and one of the greatest athletes to ever dominate his or her respective sport. As he has proven time and again, there is no challenge too great or opponent too difficult. His journey from being the youngest UFC champion in history to becoming the undisputed and undefeated GOAT has entertained and awed fans for many years. His incredible skills and unbelievable fight IQ make him the most dangerous man on the planet.
“I am looking forward to sitting down with Dana White and his team on behalf of Jon to put together the fights the fans want to see.”
Importantly, the aforementioned Dana White, who knows a thing or two about having bad blood with De La Hoya, also reacted positively to the announcement.
“I like Richard, I’ve known Richard for a long time and obviously, he built Golden Boy,” White told ESPN. “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.”
While that all sounds promising, Jones announcement comes not long after he claimed he was going to sit out for the next 12 months after acknowledging that his move up to heavyweight hadn’t been easy, so it remains to be seen if his new representation will bring the much talked about superfight between himself and current heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou any closer to becoming a reality.
