UFC working on a standard fighter uniform
According to multiple sources, a major apparel company will provide branded uniform fight shorts, walkout shirt and hats, with spots for sponsors.
Long long ago the UG paid $750 to have Tito Ortiz wear a UG t-shirt. His last tee had been so over the top that everyone was anticipating what he was going to wear.
The tee was the wrong color so Tito had to cut it into a poncho of sorts.
The market worked too. Good news was the UG immediately got 100s of sign ups. Bad news was the sign ups all tried to act like they were Tito Ortiz, and there can only be one.
Another sponsor around that time was Spanky’s XXX Playhouse.
The sport has evolved since then.
Adult website sponsors were probably the first banned. Then gambling sites, something Ricco Rodriguez got around, once, with a henna tattoo. Then condom retailers. All MMA events were banned. Companies that sponsored rival promotions were banned. All sponsors were banned unless they paid an upfront fee to the UFC. Companies were banned that competed directly with UFC sponsors, like GOOD4U energy drinks, which competes with Xenergy. Firearms, knives, hunting, and ammo sponsors were banned.
Each ban generated fan outrage. However, mainstream sports leagues like the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, PGA do not permit athletes to cover their uniforms with sponsor patches at all. So the practice of allowing sponsor patches and banners while limiting the sponsors, does not seem unreasonable.
Simultaneously, the sponsors that were left were not seeing the return they expected. The sponsor market which in the beginning saw the UG paying Tito 750 bucks, at one point then evolved to the point that fighters could often realize something like their official purse. But then it fell, to the point that some fighters wore blank shorts in protest or simple frustration.
During a meeting with the media on Thursday, UFC president Dana White announced that there would be a major change inn the sport – written uniforms are coming.
Jeremy Botter from BleacherReport has the story.
“We’re working on it,” White said. “But nothing yet.”
According to multiple sources, the deal is with a major apparel company. Our sources also said the uniform will be head to toe—including fight shorts, walkout shirt and hats—and every fighter in the UFC will wear it.
Bleacher Report’s sources also noted that several spaces on the shorts and shirt will be reserved for fighters and managers to sell their own sponsorships. But outside of those spots, the uniforms will consist mostly of UFC-branded product and the brand of the apparel company.
The uniform deal would seemingly benefit lower-tier preliminary fighters who have trouble selling sponsorships on their own.
“It’s not as big as everybody makes it out to be. Those are the guys that are making tons of money anyway, and they make big money on sponsorship,” said White said. “The lower level guys? They’re not making a bunch from sponsorship.”
“Do you know how many fighters call me and say they don’t want to deal with sponsorships anymore? What can you do? It’s not as plentiful as everybody makes it out to be.”
The news thus far generates more questions than answers. How will the major apparel retailer deal with fighters sponsored by other major apparel retailers? Will the UFC help land sponsors for prelim fighters? Will there be different colors sets for different weight classes (fighters are required to fight in contrasting colored shorts)? Will they be loose fit fight shorts only, or is this the end of the Vale Tudo short??!?