Roundtables
ROUNDTABLE: Reactions to UFC/Reebok uniforms following "fight kit" reveal
Jul 7, 2015 - 3:55:59 PM ROUNDTABLE: Reactions to UFC/Reebok uniforms following "fight kit" reveal

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What's your take now on the Reebok deal following the uniform reveal, the quality control issues on the Reebok site, and in conjunction with the pay scale?


DAN MOORE, MMATORCH UK COLUMNIST

I'm the King of Skepticism when it comes to major UFC announcements, but when they announced the Reebok deal I found myself feeling surprisingly receptive to it all. At first it seemed like a great opportunity to finally take care of the talent on their roster. Then they did what they always do - they went and messed it all up.

This deal had so much promise, but even before it officially begins, I hate it with a passion. I've seen 10 year olds put more effort into their art class homework than Reebok did when designing the official outfits. They clearly don't care, so why should anyone else?

Don't even get me started on the cost of a replica outfit. In the UK, a Michael Bisping top costs £60.00 compared to an identical Georges St-Pierre version that costs £12.00 less. Bisping is English and so am I, but that logic alone doesn't give Reebok the right to try to blatantly rip me off.

Instead, I could buy a Premier League soccer team jersey for almost the same price. I know it's going to look better, feel better, and provide considerably better value too. I'm also one-hundred percent sure the kit manufacturer in question will do their due-diligence in that area of expertise and actually learn to spell all the names correctly.

I feel sorry for the fighters more than anything. Bar a couple of superstars, the rest of the roster weren't getting paid enough as it was. Now they also have to do without fight night sponsorship. Some will cope, but the majority who have little exposure right now will suffer like never before.


MICHAEL BANE, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

It seems on this site I've long been of the minority opinion that while this deal seems bad initially for fighters, it's ultimately going to be good for them and the sport as a whole. The free market (I can hear Rich Hansen laughing now) is going to cause Big Evil the UFC to give more guaranteed money to fighters on new deals. The amount of money coming into the sport is going to increase as they take more steps to become a mainstream attraction. The fighters as a whole will ultimately benefit with more money and more exposure (Rich Hansen is now throwing things at me).

I still think most of these things, but man that release was a comical disaster that can't help but give pause. Let's start with the uniforms first. They just look so plain and boring, although I'll admit I liked the vertical name down the back of one of the ones I saw. People buy NBA and NFL jerseys because they look cool, and there's just nothing exciting about the UFC look here. They seem generic and blah.

And who exactly is the target market here? The price point (I've heard $95) is a bit steep. Authentic sports apparel tends to be a bit pricey, but at least they're very wearable. NBA jerseys are great for playing basketball in. NFL jerseys can be worn around the house on game day when you're throwing back a few cold ones and eating one too many chicken wings. I have no idea what you're supposed to do with these. They don't look good enough to just wear around the place. Perhaps they're useful for training MMA in, but last I saw most aspiring MMA fighters tend to be kind of broke, and $95 is a lot of money to pay for just one of these. Maybe it's middle-aged weekend warriors with disposable income who need something to hide their beer belly with while they "train" MMA. I just don't know, I'm not sure of the utility of these things, or who is going to buy them.

But that aside, the most horribly confounding thing about this whole ordeal is how completely rushed and amateurish it came across. I've been going through resumes this week, and I've rejected numerous ones because of typos. We're talking about entry-level jobs here, not multi-million dollar deals. Giblert Melendez? Yeah, that's a bad typo. Jacare "Ronaldo" Souza? Well, pretty sure Jacare is his nickname, so probably a mix-up. Matthew "Matt" Wiman? At least they got the name/nickname designation on this one, but really? And who the hell is Marcio "Lyoto" Machida? The entire thing looks like a rushed mess. There are numerous people who should be fired for this, it's about as bush league as you can get. I'm not sure if it's with Reebok or the UFC or what, but someone's got to be canned for this snafu. After seeing this I believe Dana White may have actually been the first human being to blow cartoon-steam out of his ears in anger.

As far as the pay goes, it's not enough for people who were grandfathered into this because of existing contracts. Those who are signing new deals are coming in knowing what they are getting, and they can try to negotiate new, market-rate fight deals to recoup the lost sponsorship dollars. The UFC may add more sponsors and increase the payouts to fighters in the future. Ultimately, this has the potential to make everyone more money, but man, someone really needs to get their stuff together because this amateur-hour-garbage is much more a step backward than forward so far.


WILL COOLING, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

The incompetence of the roll out has been genuinely shocking, but that shouldn't distract from the big issue, which is that even if perfectly executed this is a bad idea. Firstly, imposing standardised uniforms on fighters takes away from their individuality and so makes it harder for them to stand out as larger-than-life characters. Secondly, given that it's marketable fighters without tenure or outside of the championship picture who suffer the most, this seems to cut against Zuffa's interest in encouraging fighters to grab the attention of fans and media. Finally, it's hard not to see this as Zuffa trying to make independent managers obsolete by taking over one of their key roles. That's a dangerous play on their part considering the existence of the Muhammad Ali Reform Act, which while currently only applying to boxing does enshrine in law the principle that promoters and managers must be kept separate to protect fighters.


RICH HANSEN, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

With or without the phrase "total crap?"


FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

The uniforms are dull and unimaginative. I hate the big UFC name plastered across the front. That's just over the top. They're way too generic and extremely overpriced. How many fans are going to rush out to buy any of these? The uniforms have managed to remove any possible personality and coolness from the fighter in terms of gear. That pales in comparison, though, to the pay scale, which is still so laughably out of whack that it makes the UFC look like they don't know what they're doing. They're taking a team sport approach to an individual sport. The whole point of uniforms in team sports is to give fans something to root for, even if they may not know all the players are. That only works in a team sport. The reveal was just dumb added on top of stupid.


TOM STRONG, MMATORCH UK CONTRIBUTOR

There'll be a lot of unhappy fighters regarding the Reebok sponsorship deal even if they're not voicing their concerns via social media. With the money on offer, the likes of the UFC Champions and fighters who are at the top of their game will be taking a significant hit from what they were getting paid previously. Where the sponsorship may help others are up and coming fighters who are new to the screen and will know they are guaranteed their money come fight night, not having to worry about trying to source sponsorships for each bout. Long time veterans within the UFC who haven't necessarily reached the top, like the likes of Gleison Tibau, will fall into the upper tier of payments.

Regarding the attire, it's the sort of clothing you'd expect to see at a market stall where they're trying to pop them out at $5 each, even then you wouldn't buy one! The whole thing looks like it's been conjured up in five minutes flat without any research or thought process into the design, It's not only simplistic it's horrific. If the design wasn't enough to put any potential buyer off, surely the price of $95 for a Giblert Melendez "jersey" might?


CASH NORMAN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

The entire UFC and Reebok partnership has been embarrassing from the moment it began. I believe it's unforgivable and disrespectful to misspell the fighters name, especially given the multitude of resources available. The Reebok fight kits are unoriginal and lack vision. It's easy to understand why Reebok has been struggling in the sporting apparel industry.

In addition, I don't understand the logic behind creating a sports jersey, especially when the athletes are competing half naked. Then the cost of the jerseys are astronomical; who is spending nearly $100 on a misspelled sports jersey for their favorite fighter? I do not think Reebok understands that mixed martial arts isn't a team sport, and that fans root for more than one fighter and may want to purchase multiple walkout jerseys to support their favorite fighter. However, by having a standardized jersey that looks like every other fighter's jersey, there isn't anything distinguishable, thus no reason to purchase it.


DAYNE FOX, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

The uniforms don't appeal to fans in any way, shape, or form. There is zero individuality to them as it appears the fighters don't even get a say in the colors of their shorts. Really? Can anyone else picture Chuck Liddell wearing anything other than his signature blue shorts? I was amazed at the grandeur of the mistakes made as well, featuring a Josh Koscheck "fight kit" and "Giblert Melendez" being some of the most prominent mistakes. The research that I have done indicates that the whole deal was rushed anyway, as there were six or seven months in the time since the Reebok deal was struck and the time that it was implemented. Though I'm no business genius, I'm pretty sure that there is usually a lot more time to unveil such a grand scheme. But no one over there can run a spell check?

I find it a bit despicable that they refuse to refer to the uniforms as uniforms, as calling them uniforms indicates that the athletes are something other than an independent contractor. If they are required to wear these as they walk out and fight in the cage, there is no mistaking them as anything other than uniforms. And $95 dollars for something that looks no different than something I can find at Wal-Mart for $10 minus the large UFC letters? I don't think so. I'm also disappointed in the lack of input that the fighters have had in the appearances of the uniforms, but I do expect that will change as time goes by and sells of the uniforms are poor. As for the fighter pay, I'm not sure if I'm surprised that Uncle Dana didn't budge as the outcry was so massive, but Dana is as stubborn as they come. Perhaps the change will come later.

Now that I have thrown everything under the bus, I am happy to hear that the fighters have been pleased with the material and feel of the uniforms. I guess that is where all of the fighter input went... so I guess that wasn't an outright lie.