UFC contemplates fighter uniforms

The UFC announced this week that it intends to have its fighters wear uniforms in the Octagon.  Although nothing is official, multiple sources are reporting that the UFC has spoken with a major athletic apparel company regarding fitting its fighters for uniform to wear in the Octagon.

The deal will dress the fighters including hats, walkout shirts and fight shorts.  The fighters will be allowed panels on their person where they may obtain other sponsors.

The uniforms appear to be the UFC response to addressing the disparity in fighter sponsorships – something Dana White indicated he wanted to fix.  Notably, Cole Miller had expressed discontent with sponsors.  Chris Carmozzi called for an end to lowball offers from potential sponsors on his blog.  Mac Danzig had gone so far as to decline sponsors for his fight on network television.

We will see if the uniforms will be similar to what we see on TUF  (with less emphasis on the athletic company logo) or will we see some other design.

(H/T:  Bloody Elbow via Bleacher Report)

Payout Perspective:

This will be an interesting story to follow as this deal will be lucrative from the UFC’s standpoint as it essentially brokers a sponsorship deal for it while seemingly solve sponsorship issues with some of the lower tier fighters.  It’s not clear how the deal does away with lowball offers from sponsors although the details have yet to be released.

A good question to ask is if there is limited space for sponsors on the new UFC uniform, how many companies would be willing to invest.  The new uniform may also minimize the need for fighter representation.  Rather than find deals for its fighters, managers and agents will have less of a role in this area and must show value to their client in other ways.