“If I see one more Affliction or TapouT shirt in the club again, I’m going to puke…”
It’s a common backlash response that I hear from MMA’s hardcores and it represents an equally common behaviour that has been observed in a variety of circumstances.
For years the dedicated fanbase of MMA has been happy and proud to wear the latest fads in MMA fashion. On one hand, they were helping to support a sport they loved and cared about. On the other, wearing MMA gear – to many people – signified belonging to somewhat of an exclusive club.
The fact is people like to believe and feel as though they are a part of something that few others are.
Five years ago this was generally the case – the average person didn’t know what MMA or the UFC or Pride or TapOut were.
Today it seems that everyone and his dog is wearing an MMA brand. Usually they adorn said brands so to be seen as edgy, tough, and quite literally willing to “tap yo bitch-ass out!”.
Yet, as I said, this isn’t uncommon. Mainstream culture is always looking for the newest edgy lifestyles to make popular and the hardcore enthusiasts behind those lifestyles will always resent and rebel against it. The same type of reaction has been witnessed countless of times throughout history: contemporary examples including the punk, skater, surfer, and snowboarder lifestyles. Who hasn’t heard that, “real punk isn’t played on the radio.”
And really, it’s tough to blame enthusiasts for resenting a surge in the popularity of their lifestyle – it removes the exclusivity. More to the point, it no longer means what it once did to wear TapouT or Affliction.
Thus, I have been witnessing a rather alarming elitist phenomena within the MMA community in recent months: the tendency of fans and hardcore fighters alike to belittle the bandwagon fan for sporting some MMA gear or the outright refusal of some to purchase or wear MMA clothing. It certainly follows every other historical trend before it, but it’s alarming none-the-less.
Why? Because so much of MMA’s current success can be attributed to word of mouth and grassroots marketing that every extra person wearing a TapOut or Affliction t-shirt is like another walking, talking billboard for the sport.
Furthermore, clothing sales are part of the self-perpetuating cylce that helps to keep the sport of MMA alive. The money that the casual fan pays for MMA clothing goes to support MMA clothing companies. Those companies in turn provide a significant portion of a fighter’s yearly salary in the form of sponsorships. These fighters in turn provide the product that is the very foundation for the lifestyle that MMA fans all know and love.
Ultimately, what matters the most is the security and longevity of the sport of MMA. Therefore, MMA may need to sacrifice a little bit of its culture and a little bit of its exclusivity in order to survive and flourish.
So, as it pertains to Affliction or TapOut clothes, I say the more the merrier…even if it means I have to bump into 30 Chuck Liddells next Saturday night.
Nobody said sacrifices were easy.