TapouT-UFC announce new sponsorship deal
February 7, 2012
Longtime sponsor of the UFC, TapouT announced a new multi-year deal with the company and new title as “official lifestyle apparel partner” of the Ultimate Fighting Championships.
Via TapouT/UFC press release:
The multi-year deal gives TapouT exposure at UFC® events broadcast on Pay-Per-View, FX and FUEL TV via canvas logos, bumpers and billboards. In addition, TapouT will present the “Submission of the Night” feature on UFC broadcasts, as well as take part in on-site activation at UFC events globally. The agreement also includes an extensive digital media plan, with TapouT gaining visibility across multiple social media platforms and at UFC.com. Furthermore, TapouT obtains the rights to use “Official lifestyle apparel of UFC” on hangtags, point-of-sale and advertising.
TapouT, which is owned by New York-based ABG Tapout, LLC a division of Authentic Brands Group LLC, has a long history of sponsoring UFC athletes in the Octagon®.
“TapouT has been a big supporter of the sport and its athletes for a long time,” UFC President Dana White said. “We’re excited to have them as our official lifestyle apparel partner as we get ready for some of the biggest years in UFC history.”
“It’s been a dream of ours ever since we watched the first UFC to be an official partner of the best MMA organization in the world,” said TapouT co-founder, Dan “Punkass” Caldwell.
“The UFC is a world class professional sports organization with an aggressive global growth strategy in line with ours,” said James Salter, CEO of Authentic Brands Group. “This partnership with the UFC further reinforces TapouT’s commitment to supporting the sport, its athletes and beloved fans.”
“TapouT and the UFC have had a long standing relationship over the years, which would explain why many fans already consider us as the lifestyle brand of the UFC,” said James Ling, Authentic Brand Group’s SVP of Marketing and Global Brands in an email to MMAPayout. “We made it official so there’s no doubt in the minds of retailers and consumers that TapouT is the leading lifestyle brand in the space.”
“TapouT and the UFC’s goals are in alignment as both continue to expand international reach and market penetration,” Ling added, “As the sport continues to grow and gets further ingrained into mainstream culture, we hope to see more fans wanting to represent the sport they love by supporting the brands that support the sport.”
UFC 140: Payout Perspective
December 15, 2011
Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective. This week we look at the UFC’s return to Toronto as the UFC made a stop at the Air Canada Center as Jon Jones defended his title against Lyoto Machida.
Jones chokes out Machida
Despite losing the first round, Jon Jones showed resolve to come back and defeat “The Dragon”. Jones used his size to complete a standing guillotine which rendered Machida limp. Up next for Jones will be the winner of Rashad Evans/Phil Davis in January. At this point, Jones looks like he is gaining confidence and looks real comfortable in the Octagon, something to worry about for those in his division.
Mir snaps Big Nog’s shoulder
Frank Mir broke Tim Sylvia’s arm for his black belt and may have earned another stripe for his kimura on Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera. Big Nog had Mir in trouble but Mir was able to gather himself to reverse Noguiera, grabbed his arm and locked in the kimura. The gruesome replay were shown over and over again with the crowd “ooing” each time the arm seemingly snapped.
Zombie surprises Hominick
It took only seconds for the Chang Sung Jung to defeat Canadian favorite Mark Hominick. A disappointing return for Hominick.
Attendance, Gate and Bonuses
As reported earlier in the week 18,303 fans attended for a gate of $3.9 million Canadian ($3.77 million U.S.).According to F4Wonline.com (subscription required), about 15,000 paid although it was not a sell-out. F4WOnline opined that the disappointing turnout may be due to the UFC coming back too fast.
MMA Junkie reported the bonuses for UFC 140 with each receiving $75,000.
KO of the night: The Korean Zombie
Submission of the night: Frank Mir
Fight of the Night: Jones-Machida
Sponsorships
The Octagon included Xyience, Toyo Tires, Dodge, TapouT, Musclepharm, the UFC’s Ultmate DVD Collection, StubHub, Batteflield 3 had the side pads (including graphics) and was on the mat, Bud Light was present on the ring pads and center.
Bony Acai, Harley Davidson and StubHub were presenting sponsors for UFC 140. The U.S. Marines had its usual “mini-fighter” matchup for Jones-Machida.
UFC.com Store owned the fighter prep point.
Harley Davidson is taking part in the UFC Hometown Throwdown promotion which had been previously promoted at other events as well as 140. Similar to the WEC version, it asks fans to pick a city in which they would want the UFC to hold an event. The promotion asks for fans to provide an email address in order to take part. The UFC will email the fans when the final cities are chosen.
Mark Hominick wore the CFL’s Hamilton TiCats gear once again.
Jon Jones wore his Form Athletics jacket in the back and during the walkout.
Brian Ebersole is now sponsored by TapouT as one witnessed via the logo shaved into his chest. He also was sponsored by BuyMMACards.com, which replaced MiddleEasy.com on his shorts.
Logistics company and fight sponsor Blue Grace made subtle changes to its logo including a visible web address for people to see.
Notably, EBX, which is a Brazilian investment company, sponsored the Nogueira brothers. We might expect more Brazilian and South American companies jumping into sponsorship with the upcoming card this January and with TUF: Brazil.
No Suffer on Mir this time as he sported a simple Jaco Hybrid Training Black t-shirt in his walkout.
The Korean Zombie did not wear his popular shirt but a white shirt with his Korean sponsors.
UFCstore.com had the Fighter prep point
More info on walkout wear here.
Jon Jones and Frank Mir broke out Xenergy drinks immediately after their win before their post-fight interview.
Not a lot of notable new sponsors here. The Octagon seemed UFC heavy. Perhaps this is due to the anticipated holiday shopping season. The UFC had indicated that new sponsors would not occur until the first quarter of next year.
Post-UFC 140 Headline
The only real headline coming out of this event is what’s next for Jon Jones. While some wish for a Jones-Anderson Silva matchup, its more likely that Jones face Rashad Evans provided he gets past Phil Davis and stays healthy enough to make it to the showdown.
Odds and Ends
- Tito Ortiz is now calling himself “The People’s Champ.” I thought the Rock was “The People’s Champ?” Copyright issues? Of course, I thought that Marshawn Lynch would have copyrighted “Beast Mode” too.
- UFC Countdown show aired on the Fox Regional Sports Networks as early as Sunday before the fight (according to the Direct TV guide) but either I was not paying attention or there was a lack of notice, but I missed the Countdown show when it was on my RSN. It appeared on the Audience Network later in the week and was online so I was able to catch it. Not sure if anyone else had a problem finding it on their RSN.
Buy Rate
Early estimations on the buy rate for UFC 140 by the Wrestling Observer have it at 440,000 buys in the US and 480,000 buys worldwide. This is a positive considering the UFC’s string of sub-400 PPV buys. It also shows that Jones is beginning to grow as a PPV draw. Jones vs. Rampage did 475,000 buys and it has improved if you take the worldwide buy rate.
Authentic Brands Group sends cease and desist to nonprofit
August 25, 2011
Authentic Brand Group (ABG) recently sent a cease and desist notice to nonprofit Tap Out Cancer for use of the “TapouT” trademark. As a result, the small nonprofit must rename itself.
According to its web site, Tap out Cancer is a nonprofit which raises awareness through the Brazilian Ji Jitsu community. It raises money “[t]hrough merchandise sales, special events, sponsorships and direct donations.” On its web site it noted that it is in not affiliated with TapouT. But, this was not enough to avoid ABG’s request.
When a vendor expressed concern about the nonprofit’s use of the “Tapout” name, the nonprofit sent an email to ABG requesting it receive its “blessing” to use the “Tapout” name. According to the nonprofit, a month and a half passed before it received a cease and desist email.
Tap Out Cancer’s web site reprinted a portion of ABG’s correspondence:
While we applaud your work with charitable causes, we unfortunately cannot grant permission for this use of our federally registered trademark. In addition to owning a stylized mark which you mention you tried to distinguish yourself from, we also own the word mark.
For your information, this use of our trademark in your business name is, in fact, and infringement of our intellectual property rights, including, without limitation our trademarks. It is not our desire to cause you any undue expense in connection with this matter in light of your organization’s goals. As such, we are willing to settle the matter with you at this stage if you can agree to: immediately cease and desist from the use of the trademark TapouT in any and all domain names, corporate names or otherwise, including by transferring the domain name to us.
(via Tap Out Cancer’s web site)
Payout Perspective:
The web site entry by the nonprofit reflects that they understand the reasons for ABG’s letter. While the timeframe took longer than expected, ABG is in its legal right to protect its trademarks. If not, more infringers would follow as the nonprofit points out. This has potential to be a public relations problem although the nonprofit used the “Tapout” name without permission. ABG’s correspondence is delicate and makes sure it is not impersonal in requesting that the nonprofit cease the use of “Tapout.”
Its a good cause, but the nonprofit should have asked ABG, or an attorney, prior to establishing the name of the nonprofit. Fortunately, it appears that there will be no further legal ramifications from this. While Tap Out Cancer indicated that it will lose money from merchandise it intended to sell, its better to take the loss now than to have to lose more money in legal fees to defend a lawsuit.
MFC-Tapout Energy sign sponsorship deal
August 21, 2011
The MFC announced a sponsorship deal with Tapout Energy drinks. Terms of the deal were not disclosed although the MFC indicated that Tapout Energy would be prominently displayed during its next event October 7th.
Via Mike Whitman at Sherdog.com:
“The MFC has always taken great pride in being an organization that thrives on the support of its outstanding corporate partners,” said MFC owner Mark Pavelich in the official release. “Tapout Energy coming on board with the MFC is unquestionably one of the proudest moments in the history of this company.”
Payout Perspective:
The UFC is not the only MMA organization tha has corporate sponsors. The signing of Canadian energy drink Tapout Energy is good support for one of the better organizations in Canada. Earlier this year, Good 4 U drinks entered into a sponsorship agreement with the MFC. For Tapout, its a good way to market its product to its likely target demo of young males 18-34. Out of curiosity, if anyone has had a Tapout Energy, let us know what you think of it.
UFC 133: Payout Perspective
August 8, 2011
Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective! This week we look at the much-maligned UFC 133 event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the main event, Rashad Evans took out Tito Ortiz to cement his spot as the number one contender in the Light Heavyweight division.
Evans knees Ortiz for win
Rashad Evans looked phenomenal and displayed no signs of rust after a 14 month layoff. Tito Ortiz looked good too but Evans was too much for Tito and a knee to the chest ended Tito’s night. This was a fight that no one really lost. Evans secured his title shot and Ortiz spun his loss as “taking one for the team.”
Belfort takes care of Akiyama
Vitor Belfort made quick work of Yoshihiro Akiyama as he knocked out Akiyama in the first round. An impressive showing coming off of being KO’d by Anderson Silva. Interesting the finish came when Akiyama attempted and missed a front kick similar to that of Silva.
Ebersole KO’s Hallman and speedo
While most thought that Brian Ebersole’s “harrow” would be the quirky story of this match, it was Dennis Hallman wearing a speedo that convinced Dana White to award Ebersol a special KO bonus as well as banning all speedos from UFC competition. When I saw Hallman’s short shorts I immediately thought of what boxer Bernard Hopkins was thinking. As some may know, BHop used to hate MMA until the pubicity came to Philadelphia. He did get off one of the best takes about the sport on the Jim Rome show when he said he would lose to any MMA guy since he had notfought like that since “he was in prison or a kid.”
Ebersole received a “special” bonus as a result of his KO. For better or worse, the short shorts received mainstream notoriety from Deadspin and ESPN’s Page 2 created a list of “Worst Looks in Sports History” in honor of Hallman’s shorts.
Attendance and gate
11,583 were in attendance for a gate of $1.5 million according to MMA Junkie. The number of complimentary tickets were not provided. In comparison, 2009’s UFC 101 was a sellout with 17,411 in attendance for a gate of $3.55 million. The event, held in the same building as UFC 133, featured Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin.
Bonuses
MMA Junkie reports the following bonuses for UFC 133. There were no submissions, so no submissions of the night were awarded. However, White awarded Ebersole a $70,000 bonus for getting Hallman’s speedos off of PPV. Other $70,000 award winners included:
Fight of the Night – Evans vs. Ortiz
KO of the Night – Vito Belfort
PR for UFC 133
Rashad Evans workouts were featured on Yahoo! Sports. Evans and NFLers Maurice Jones-Drew and Larry Fitzgerald were featured in a weekly series on elite athlete workouts.
Many Philadelphia celebrities were in attendance including Charles Barkley and Bernard Hopkins. Interesting that Hopkins was in attendance considering that he had bad mouthed MMA for some time.
White and Ortiz appeared on the Jim Rome Show. Similar to NASCAR, the Rome show has embraced the sport by having UFC fighters on as well as talking about it on his show.
White gave away tickets for UFC 133 through its #Hunt4UFC twitter contest where White sent out tweets to locations of where to go if fans wanted free tickets.
Sponsorships
SafeAuto Insurance sponsored its usual band of UFC fighters as well as a contest, “VIP at the UFC.” The brand activation integrated social media into its fan contest. When fans “liked” the SafeAuto Facebook page and filled out a contest form they had the opportunity to win a trip to UFC 133.
Tapout had a similar contest for UFC 133 in which followers either liked the Tapout Facebook page and tweet out “#TapoutTickets” in order to qualify. The winner was announced during the appearance of Skyscrape and Punkass on The MMA Hour last Monday.
According to Bloody Elbow, Rory MacDonald’s fight banner never made it behind him before introductions. A faux pas if you want to keep sponsors. Here it is:
Training Mask made a big splash with the sponsorship of many of the fighters on the card including Rashad Evans. And, it also sponsored the front of Hallman’s shorts. Training Mask put out what seemed to be a tongue in cheek tweet about its sponsorship of Hallman stating that it has no control of what its fighters wear.
Middle Easy sponsored Brian Ebersole. It was interesting to note that at the end of the fight, Joe Rogan referred to Ebersole’s “Bloody Elbow” after pummeling Dennis Hallman. Coincidence?
The fighter fashions are detailed in this post. Notably, Evans sported a white Jaco track suit top with a subtle Jaco logo. Yet, he wore a Tapout shirt post-fight. Nam Phan wore a gi that he took off in the entryway so that his t-shirt sponsor, Throwdown, got the visibility during the walkout.
Conan 3D had the fighter checkpoint sponsorship. Fortunately, no interview with its star this time around.
Harley Davidson, Dodge, Gamefly.com, Xyience, Edge, Boost Mobile and Bud Light had the center of the ring.
Post-UFC 133 Headlines
Evans vs. Jones/Rampage Super Bowl Weekend 2012. Book it. Nobody get hurt.
Rory MacDonald. Probably the most impressive young fighter out there. It will be interesting to see what fights are ahead of the Canadian.
Tito Ortiz. Although he lost, he put on a good fight and it didn’t look like he was mailing it in. He’s regained respect with the UFC and will likely have a fight or two left with the company.
Despite many alterations to the card, UFC 133 had some entertaining, albeit short fights. If you wanted to see knockouts, UFC 133 gave it to you.
Odds and ends:
Did Shane Victorino help promote UFC 133 by starting a bench-clearing brawl Friday night?
Does everyone have Beats by Dre headphones that Evans wore at weigh-ins and walkout?
Joe Rogan mentioned Diamond MMA, a company specializing in compression shorts that hold cups in place to prevent groin shots, during the fights giving the company some good publicity.
The main card fights ended with almost an hour to spare. This happens when there are 4 KOs during the PPV. This was a night with lots of filler fights. It was a good chance to show the Facebook fights live.
Ochocinco signs TapouT deal
June 15, 2011
MMA Mania reports that NFL star Chad Ochocinco has signed a deal with Tapout to sport its mouthguards and wristbands. The deal is a part of Tapout’s expansion outside MMA.
Via Tapout press release (h/t MMA Mania):
“Ochocinco is the perfect athlete to represent the TapouT brand and its energy and intensity,” said Chris Circo, CEO of Battle Sports Science. “Fans absolutely adore Chad’s rule-breaking enthusiasm and passionate devotion to sports. This is evident in the relationship he maintains with his over 2 million Twitter followers.”
Produced by Battle Sports Science, in partnership with Authentic Brands Group, the TapouT Mouthguard is an innovative mouth protection system so advanced that it rivals the safety and performance of custom-molded
mouthguards that cost hundreds of dollars – yet the TapouT Mouthguard is available for a fraction of the cost.
Not only will Ochocinco be protecting his mouth in style with the mouthguard, he’ll also be sporting the new
TapouT RealG Bands and the TapouT RealG Sweatbands. The bands provide unmatched durability and style
with real magnetic technology embedded in a dual layer medical grade silicone.
The mouthguard will be based on the former Chad Johnson’s gold grill.
Payout Perspective:
It will be interesting to see how successful Tapout’s venture outside of MMA will be. As SB Nation reports, it has produced a documentary on the late Evan Tanner which will make its premiere this weekend at the LA Film Festival. A return to television could be next. Ochocinco becomes the first “big name” sports star outside of MMA to represent TapouT. This can only help the brand seek inroads into the NFL and other professional sports. With a huge twitter following, Ochocinco can reach more people than TapouT could with an ad. A positive mention of TapouT to his fans on Twitter would reach more people than if TapouT stayed within its core MMA audience.
For Ochocinco, the deal fits within his own brand and image. He is one of the more outspoken personalities in the NFL. And if a strike is avoided, he will be sporting a gold TapouT mouthpiece that will be captured by a national audience each Sunday.
Authentic Brands Group Announces SVP Media and Entertainment
May 18, 2011
NEW YORK, May 18th, 2011 – New York based intellectual property company Authentic Brands Group has named Mike Straka senior vice president of media and entertainment to head up strategic content initiatives for brands including TapouT, TapouT MPS, Silver Star, Iron Star, Sinister, Hitman Fight Gear and Marilyn Monroe.
“Straka’s expertise in multimedia will help grow our content offerings and distribution across all of our brands on multiple platforms,” said Jamie Salter, chairman and CEO, ABG. “His demonstrated body of work in MMA has made him one of the most respected broadcast journalists in mixed martial arts today. We are looking forward to having Mike Straka represent our brands in all forms of media and entertainment.”
“Mike has been a huge supporter of MMA and TapouT throughout the years,” said Dan “Punkass” Caldwell, president and co-founder of TapouT. “We are excited to have him on our team and look forward to collaborating with him as we continue to be the leading MMA apparel and lifestyle brand.”
A former vice president and executive producer at FOX News Digital, Straka brings nearly twenty years of major media experience to ABG and will be responsible for building strategic media partner- ships for ABG brands, and head up content channels that will serve to make Tapout.com, TapouT Radio and ABG’s partners the premier destinations for mixed martial arts news and entertainment coverage.
“This is a dream job for me,” said Straka. “MMA is my passion and TapouT is the leading brand in MMA lifestyle and entertainment. To be a part of the vision set upon by the late Mask and his partners Punkass and Skyskrape more than ten years ago is an honor. Authentic Brands Group is a company that cultivates the type of entrepreneurial spirit and environment that I thrive in, and I’m up for the challenge.”
In addition, Straka will represent ABG and TapouT on all forms of media, analyzing fight cards, break- ing UFC® news and interviewing the fighters.
While at FOX Straka was responsible for video operations, vendor relations and online programming, and he was the host and executive producer of “Fox Fight Game,” one of the first weekly MMA pro- grams dating back to UFC 32.
Most recently, Straka was the host of “Fighting Words with Mike Straka” on HDNet, a one-on-one interview program featuring the biggest names in MMA, including UFC president Dana White and a rare interview with UFC chairman and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta, as well as dozens of sit-downs with the world’s greatest MMA fighters.
UFC 128: Payout Perspective
March 22, 2011
Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective. This time we look at UFC 128 held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The show was topped by Jon Jones stopping Mauricio Rua to win the UFC Light Heavyweight title.
Jones fights crime, beats Rua
To top off being a favorite , fighting close to his hometown and having his own Spike TV special prior to challenging for the Light Heavyweight crown, Jon Jones helped stop a burglar just hours before the fight. Although he looked nervous and Rua looked calm, Jones destroyed Rua to win the belt. Rua looked slow and out of shape, but perhaps that was a testament to the speed and skill of Jones.
For Jones, a matchup with Rashad Evans is next although it may happen late 2011 as it is reported that Jones may have broken a bone in his hand. Thus, Evans will not have fought in the UFC since May 2010.
Faber kisses Rosie, survives to win in UFC debut
Urijah Faber defeated Eddie Wineland and will face Dominick Cruz next. Wineland did well for himself as he stuffed several takedown attempts at the outset, but Faber eventually solved Wineland. After the fight, Faber gave a rather mechanic call out to Cruz. Perhaps the venom will step up if they become opposing TUF coaches. Whenever the fight happens, it should be a great fight.
I think that the UFC should have Faber-Cruz coach TUF as this can help gain more exposure to the lighter divisions. Plus, it should elevate Faber’s presence to the mainstream. I think Faber (and Jose Aldo) are the two fighters that can give the lighter weight divisions a boost in giving them respect and more visibility on UFC cards.
Not able boos for “The California Kid” coming out to 2Pac/Dre. I guess the East Coast-West Coast rap battle is still alive. And yes, that was Rosie O’Donnell that he kissed walking to the ring. I liked Rosie better when she was a VH1 DJ.
Bonuses
MMA Junkie reports the bonuses for 128.
Brendan Schaub and Erik Koch earned $75K apiece for their KOs and Edson Barboza and Anthony Njokuani earned $75K each for their Fight of the Night on Spike TV. There were no fights ending in submissions so that can explain the double KO bonus.
Attendance and Gate
MMA Junkie reports that 12,619 fans attended UFC 128 for a gate of $2.14 million. The numbers were not as good as GSP-Hardy and did not draw as many fans as Bisping-Evans. In fact, UFC 128 had a slightly better gate than UFC 78. It is likely that Jones will draw much better in the future.
Via MMA Junkie:
- UFC 111 (St-Pierre vs. Hardy): $4,000,000 gate (17,000 attendance)*
- UFC 128 (Jones vs. Rua): $2,140,000 (12,619)*
- UFC 78 (Bisping vs. Evans): $2,100,000 (14,071)*
- UFC 53 (Arlovski vs. Eilers): $1,100,000 (12,000)*
Ratings
UPDATED 3/22/11 – MMAPayout confirmed today with SpikeTV the ratings for the UFC Prelims. UFC 128 Prelims earned a .85 household rating, a .92 in Men 18-49, a 1.03 in Men 18-34, and an average audience of 1.3 million viewers. According to MMA Junkie, the ratings show a strong increase from the UFC 127 Prelims on ION.
The lead-up shows for UFC 128 included the usual Countdown show and a special for Jon Jones, “In the Moment.” The Jones pre-event show did better than the Countdown show. It did very well considering it went up against NCAA Tournament games. It will be interesting to see how he GSP-Shields Primetime series will do in comparison.
Sponsorship Watch
MMAPayout Emiritus Kelsey Philpott was on hand and tweeted about the scene outside the arena pre-UFC 128 where the UFC held a Tailgate Party. This was a great way for sponsors to get out in front of its audience. Tapout and Xyience were among the sponsors outside interacting with fans. The newest product out there for the MMA fan: Tapout energy bands.
Sponsors in the Octagon included Harley Davidson, BSN, BoostMobile, Xyience, Affliction, Tapout , Toyo Tires and Bud Light had the center of the Octagon.
The UFCStore.com was actively involved in the PPV as it sponsored the tale of the tape and also ran an ad during the first round of the Jones/Rua fight which I thought was a little annoying.
Jon Jones had Iron Bridge Tools as a fight sponsor on the back of his shorts. According to my count, this is the second time that a challenger has won the UFC title with a tool sponsor on the back of his shorts as Cain Velasquez wore a Milwaukee Tools logo when he beat Brock Lesnar. I don’t think Gray Maynard or Vito Belfort had a tool sponsor on the back of their shorts. Are you listening Jake Shields?
Big night for sponsor Form Athletics as Jon Jones and Urijah Faber won their fights.
Public Relations for 128
The UFC was all over the NY/NJ area promoting UFC 128. Details on some of its appearances are here. Aside from promoting 128, the UFC made an effort to promote the legalization of the sport in New York. Notably, Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta appeared on a NY public affairs program to discuss the fight for legalization.
Aside from local media, notable print media stories included Jon Jones in WSJ which asked whether Jones would be the breakthrough star the UFC (and MMA) needs.
Jones appeared on a local morning show in NY where he was asked to display what he does in the Octagon.
UFC Fighter Jon ‘Bones’ Jones: MyFoxNY.com
I think Middle Easy explains my sentiments.
Via Middle Easy:
Hopefully in 2012, we can collectively agree that any form of media asking a fighter to place them in a rear-naked choke needs to come to an end. Actually, that’s not entirely fair. Let’s make a rule that if you ask a fighter to place you in a rear-naked choke, you can’t tap out. The blood running through your neck will have to come to a complete halt and your unconscious body will need to collapse to the floor in order to realize how much of an idiot you were for asking someone to choke you out.
Trending during 128
Twitter was abuzz Saturday night as #ufc128 #Crocop #Schaub #Miller and #Faber were all trending. I’m sure Jones was trending as well although I did not check after the fights.
Odds and Ends
- MMA is great because it’s the only sport where one of its champs seconds a fighter as Frankie Edgar did at the weigh-ins for Ricardo Almeida
- The Miller Brothers fought back to back and went 1 and 1.
- Jon Jones gave a shout out to his after-party during his post-fight interview, a taboo in the UFC. But, Jones quickly amended his announcement to say it was for charity. Perhaps the champ was taking liberties with his newfound position.
- While there are many MMA fans that loathe the comparisons to pro wrestling, “USA, USA” chants broke out during the main event. The last time I heard that I think The Iron Shiek was wrestling Sargent Slaughter.
- If Herb Dean did not stop the Jones-Rua fight, Rua was tapping.
- Faber received his Brown Belt in BJJ after the Wineland match. Not as dramatic as when Randy Couture received his Black Belt for choking out James Toney or when Frank Mir received his after breaking Tim Sylvia’s arm.
TapouT sponsors race car at Nascar’s Nationwide series
March 6, 2011
MMA clothing brand TapouT unveiled its sponsored race car at NASCAR’s Nationwide Series on Saturday. The TapouT Chevrolet placed 12th in its first ever race.
Via MMA Junkie:
In February, MMA clothing manufacturer TapouT announced it was branching out from its core audience with a multi-year partnership with racing team Kevin Harvick Inc.
“I expect NASCAR and MMA fans to be in a bit of shock – in a good way,” TapouT exec Tim “Skyskrape” Katz stated in the original announcement. “TapouT has never ventured outside of MMA like this, but seeing how the fans love both sports, I think they will be the real winners here.
Payout Perspective:
An interesting partnership considering the TapouT merger last year as well as the sponsors choice to diversify with sponsorship in another sport. Similar to MMA, NASCAR has shown the potential for long-term growth. It would be interesting to see the research performed in deciding this sponsorship. Based on TapouT’s investment in NASCAR, it tells us that MMA fans are big into NASCAR as well.
Former Tapout Employee Receives $3.2M Jury Award
January 26, 2011
Following up on my earlier post, Former TapouT Employee’s Wrongful Termination Lawsuit Set for Trial in January – Claims Against Kreiner Dismissed, according to the Beverley Hills Courier, the former employee, Michelle Thomas “was today awarded $2.4 million in punitive damages by a Los Angeles Superior Court jury.”
According to the article, “[t]he panel deliberated for about a half-hour before finding in favor of Michelle Thomas in her wrongful termination case. The same panel on Monday awarded her $840,000 in compensatory damages, bringing her total award to more than $3.2 million.”
Consistent with the allegations in the complaint, the article provides that Thomas testified “that employees were told to pay out of their own pocket for any television subscriptions needed to view the company’s show on the Versus cable network, called ‘TapouT,’ as well as pay-per-view Ultimate Fighting Championship bouts.”
Justin Klein is an attorney at Satterlee Stephens Burke & Burke LLP in New York City where he concentrates his practice in commercial litigation and represents clients in the fight industry. He regularly addresses current legal issues that pertain to combat sports, including efforts to legalize MMA in New York, at his Fight Lawyer website. He is a licensed boxing manager with the New York State Athletic Commission as well as the founder and Chairman of the Board of the New York Mixed Martial Arts Initiative, a non-profit organization that gives inner city youth the opportunity to experience the emotional and physical benefits of martial arts training. Justin lives in New York City where he trains in jiu jitsu and boxing.
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