Roots of Fight, UFC partner on history of MMA
ROOTS OF FIGHT IN THE UNDERGROUND STORE> This is not Roots of Fight: Jesse Katz created Roots of Fight because he wanted to tell interesting stories…
ROOTS OF FIGHT IN THE UNDERGROUND STORE>
This is not Roots of Fight:
Jesse Katz created Roots of Fight because he wanted to tell interesting stories about the history of martial arts.
The formula for creating an MMA-themed shirt was fairly predictable: Take a fighter’s name, splash it across the top and then fill the rest of the shirt with tribal designs or armor or whatever else you think might represent cool dudes who fight for living. They weren’t pretty, but they were a license to print cash.
Katz wanted no part of that racket.
“I saw that there was a hole in this industry, where there just wasn’t anybody talking about the history of the sport,” Katz said. “I felt that I could do this mix of storytelling and apparel in an environment where there was nobody digging into it.”
Katz worked on the concept for Roots of Fight for over two years before finally launching the company early in 2012.
“I think what separates us—and what we strive for in order to separate ourselves—is that we lead with story. We lead with having a point of interest. Every shirt that we make is part of a bigger story. Every component of what we do as a business is related to something that is rooted in an authentic moment or time or achievement of one of these icons, or the story of an icon,” Katz said. “This new sport of MMA moves very fast, and we didn’t see anybody else telling the history of it.”
Katz’s first task for Roots of Fight was the creation of bloodlines. He matched up regions with disciplines: Israel with Krav Maga, France with savate, judo with Japan and so forth. He then anchored each of those bloodlines with an icon of the sport, to give each art its own gravity and to make a point: that these martial arts have a much bigger history than what you see on Saturday night inside the Octagon.
“Bruce Lee, Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson. These guys are global icons. They’re not just combat sports figures. They’ve been able to transcend their sport, to reach people in every corner of the globe,” Katz said.
“There’s a heavy weight that comes with this. We’ve had the good fortune of having all of these icons entrust us with their legacies, with telling their stories in a way that is respectful and authentic. It’s quite a responsibility.”
Katz met with the UFC, showed them what he was working on.
“They wanted us to tell some stories about their past. So we collaborated and came up with this idea of something that fits with Roots of Fight, which is all about telling the history, and something that fit into their contemporary marketing plans.
“We’re very excited by it. I’m proud to be associated with the UFC. We’re telling the story of all of the individual arts and their history and their icons. But really, this is not just the largest stage for this sport, but it also has practitioners that have become the best at all of these individual arts. It’s getting unbelievable practitioners in each style that are now competing in the UFC.
“And so it’s a perfect fit for us, both marketing-wise and story-wise. We like to talk about the icons of the sport and of the individual arts, but these are the stars of today and the icons of tomorrow. It’s an unreal partnership.”
This is Roots of Fight