If you try to go buy a pair of jon jones shoes nike produced today, you’re basically chasing a ghost. You won't find them at Foot Locker. You won't see them on the SNKRS app. To actually get your hands on the official "Bones" Jones gear, you have to dive into the dusty corners of eBay or specialized resale sites like StockX, where a decade-old pair of trainers might still be floating around for a few hundred bucks. It's a weird situation. Usually, when a guy is the undisputed GOAT of his sport, Nike clings to them like glue. Think Jordan. Think LeBron.
But Jon Jones? He’s the exception that proves the rule.
The story of the Nike and Jon Jones partnership is a wild timeline of massive peaks and absolute rock-bottom craters. It wasn't just a standard endorsement. It was supposed to be the blueprint for how the UFC went mainstream. When Nike signed Jones back in 2012, it was a massive "we've arrived" moment for Mixed Martial Arts. Then, everything broke.
The Rise of the Nike Free 5.0 Jon Jones Edition
Let's look back at 2013. This was the peak. Nike didn't just give Jones a t-shirt and a paycheck; they gave him his own signature trainer. Specifically, it was the Nike Free 5.0 TR in a black and red colorway with "Bones" branding and his signature on the tongue.
The launch was actually pretty historic. It sold out in minutes. People forget that. The demand for jon jones shoes nike was actually through the roof because he was this young, invincible force who seemed like the perfect corporate athlete. He had the reach, the look, and the dominance. He was literally the first MMA fighter to ever get a global sponsorship deal with the Swoosh. Before him, Nike stayed away from the "blood sport" reputation of the Octagon. Jones changed that—at least for a little while.
He even wore a Nike "Bones" shirt during his walkout at UFC 152 against Vitor Belfort. It felt like the sport had finally shed its "bar fighting" image and moved into the big leagues of Nike, Gatorade, and Bud Light.
Why the Deal Actually Collapsed
It wasn't a slow fade. It was a crash.
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The relationship officially ended in September 2014. If you ask most casual fans, they’ll tell you Nike dropped him because of his hit-and-run incident or the failed drug tests. But that’s actually factually incorrect timing-wise. The Nike deal fell apart specifically because of the infamous brawl with Daniel Cormier in the lobby of the MGM Grand.
Remember that?
The two of them went through the stage, through the backdrop, and ended up in a heap of security guards and PR people on the carpet. It was raw. It was violent. And for Nike, it was apparently the "conduct" violation they needed to exit.
Jones later spoke about this during a Nevada State Athletic Commission hearing. He admitted that Nike told him they were moving in a different direction because the brawl didn't align with their brand values. Interestingly, Jones claimed it wasn't a "firing" but a mutual agreement to part ways, though everyone in the industry knows that's usually code for "we're cutting our losses."
The Aftermath and the Reebok Era
Shortly after the Nike deal evaporated, the UFC signed its massive exclusive deal with Reebok. This essentially killed the possibility of any fighter having a private shoe deal that they could actually showcase in the cage.
Under the Reebok (and later Venum) deal, fighters lost the ability to bring their own sponsors into the Octagon. So, even if Nike had wanted to stay, the "Bones" logo wouldn't have been allowed on his shorts or his walkout gear anymore. This created a weird vacuum. Jones went from being the face of Nike's training line to being a guy who had to wear standardized kit like everyone else.
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What the Shoes Look Like Today (The Collector's Market)
If you're hunting for these today, you’re looking for a specific piece of history. The most famous pair remains the Nike Free 5.0 "Jon Bones Jones." * Colorway: Black/Reflective Silver-University Red.
- Distinct Features: The "Bones" logo on the tongue and the custom insoles.
- The Slogan: "Know Truth" was printed inside, which is kind of ironic given the chaotic years that followed for him.
There was also a secondary colorway in a sort of "Electric Yellow" or "Neon" that hit the market briefly. These were performance trainers, not lifestyle sneakers. They weren't meant for the club; they were meant for the gym. Because of that, many of the pairs that were sold back in 2013 were actually used for training and have since been trashed. Finding a "Deadstock" (brand new in box) pair in 2026 is like finding a needle in a haystack.
Why Nike Never Came Back
Nike has stuck by athletes through a lot. They stuck by Tiger Woods through his scandals. They stuck by Kobe Bryant. So why not Jon?
Honestly, the UFC is a different beast. In golf or basketball, the "violence" is metaphorical. In the UFC, the violence is the product. When you add Jones's out-of-cage legal issues—DUI, hit-and-run, various battery charges—it became a liability that didn't have the same "redemption arc" potential that Tiger Woods had.
Also, Nike's strategy shifted. They realized they didn't need a single face for MMA to sell training gear. They could just sell "Metcons" to the general fitness crowd without the headache of a fighter's press conference brawls.
The "What If" of MMA Sneakers
There’s a huge "what if" here. If Jones had kept his nose clean (literally and figuratively), we might be on the Jon Jones 12 by now. We might have seen a dedicated "Bones" sub-brand within Nike, similar to what they did with the Jordan Brand or the newer signature lines for guys like Ja Morant or Devin Booker.
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Instead, the jon jones shoes nike legacy is a time capsule of a moment when MMA almost became "Nike-fied."
It’s worth noting that other fighters have tried to bridge this gap. Conor McGregor had his Reebok deals. Jorge Masvidal tried his own thing. But nobody ever touched that Nike prestige again. It started and ended with Jon Jones.
How to Buy Them Now (If You're Brave)
If you're looking to buy, you have to be careful. Because these are "niche" collectors' items, there aren't many fakes out there (it's not profitable to fake a 2013 trainer), but the condition is usually the issue.
The "Free" soles on the 5.0 models are made of Phylon foam. Over ten to twelve years, that foam can start to oxidize or lose its "bounce." If you find a pair on a resale site, don't expect to actually use them for heavy MMA training. They are display pieces. They are artifacts of the era where the baddest man on the planet was also a Nike athlete.
Actionable Steps for Collectors and Fans
If you're trying to track down a piece of this history, don't just search "Nike shoes." You have to be specific to find the remaining inventory.
- Search for Style Codes: The specific Nike style code for the Jon Jones Free 5.0 is 628616-001. Using this code on search engines or resale apps will bypass the generic results and show you the actual fighter-branded stock.
- Verify the Tongue: Many people try to sell standard red and black Nike Frees as "Jon Jones editions." The real ones must have the "Bones" circular logo on the tongue. If it just has a standard Nike Swoosh, it’s the general release version, not the signature model.
- Check the "Yellow" Pair: If you want something even rarer, look for the 628616-700 code. That’s the neon/volt version. It’s significantly harder to find than the black one.
- Price Expectation: Don't pay "Jordan" prices. While rare, these aren't high-fashion sneakers. A fair price for a used pair is usually between $80 and $150. A brand-new pair might fetch $300 from a hardcore UFC collector, but anything over that is likely an overpayment.
The era of Nike in the Octagon is over. The UFC's current equipment deals with Venum and their shoe deal with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's "Project Rock" (Under Armour) means we likely won't see a Nike comeback anytime soon. Jon Jones remains the only fighter to ever have his name on a pair of Nikes, and given how that ended, he might be the last for a long time.