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UFC's Reebok deal is scaring away Olympic castoffs

How restrictive is Reebok's sponsorship of the UFC? (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Expert
4th August, 2016
2

After the Olympic Games wrap up in Brazil, it seems unlikely that the medal-winning combat athletes will transition from the blue mats in Rio de Janeiro to the chain-linked Octagon of the UFC.

In 1994, Dan Severn, a barrel-chested heavyweight with piercing eyes and a bushy mustache, made his UFC debut, tossing Anthony Macias around like a ragdoll.

Severn, a three-time All-American from Arizona State University, was twice a member of the Team USA Olympic wrestling squad and brought that high-level wrestling to no-holds-barred fighting during its formative years.

Since then, dozens of athletes have followed in Severn’s enormous footsteps, with present-day UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and golden-haired poster girl Ronda Rousey among the most recognisable Olympians-turned-fighters.

For years, wrestlers and judokas who earned the multicolour ringed stamp of approval used their Olympic credentials to cash in on a UFC contract.

It was a win-win for both parties in the mid-to-late 90s. Former Olympians, who had few job opportunities outside of miserable paying coaching gigs, discovered a way to make a living using the skills they had spent most of their life perfecting.

And the UFC, a promotion with a major identity crisis, was blessed with an influx of Olympic athletes, who lent credibility to a sport that still hadn’t found it’s sea legs.

As time has flown by, the number of athletes with UFC on the brain and dollar signs in their eyes after the conclusion of the once-every-four-year event has shrunk.

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Truth be told, the word’s most prominent mixed martial arts promotion isn’t a very appealing career choice for a blue-chip rookie in 2016.

Bellator MMA, the UFC’s only competitor in the United States, attracted the best Olympic hopefuls in the nation like a magnet, contracting four-time All-American Ed Ruth, 2013 Division II wrestler of the year Darrel Fortune, four-time Division II champ Joey Davis and 19-year-old super prospect Aaron Pico.

The plan, for these stud wrestlers to win medals, then return to fight for the Viacom-owned promotion ultimately backfired, with Bellator prospects going zero-for-four at the Olympic trials.

That might sound like a black eye for Bellator but in actuality, the company has arguably the best crop of young fighters on the market.

Ruth, the 25-year-old, three-time national wrestling champion who is expected to make a home in the Bellator middleweight division, perfectly summed up why he chose to put pen-to-paper on a deal with Bellator, rather than the UFC.

“I’ve been talking with all the major organisations,” he said in a press release last year. “And at the end of the day, I really believe in what (Bellator president) Scott Coker is doing with Bellator. They’re signing the top talent, they’re putting on exciting fights, and they’re letting me secure my own sponsors.”

The final word in that sentence is an important one. Sponsors.

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The UFC has an exclusive, $70-million uniform deal with athletic outfitter Reebok, which only permits fighters to wear gear with the apparel giant’s triangular logo while competing in the eight-sided cage.

The outfitting deal has caused both Reebok and the UFC countless headaches since it’s launch. Most fighters, who were considered to be underpaid, to begin with, lost a big chunk of their earnings. Former UFC champion Benson Henderson even abandoned ship, citing his black-and-white Reebok shorts as one of the biggest reasons.

Truth be told, if any of the Olympic cast offs penned a deal with the UFC, as entry-level fighters they would receive a laughably low $2,500 in sponsorship pay.

With the Olympics already underway, it’s no secret that the Bellator team will be paying close attention to the combat events, with 2012 gold medal winners Jordan Burroughs and Kayla Harrison among the most desired prospects.

It’s unclear if either Burroughs or Harrison will step into a cage – whether it’s circular like Bellator’s or has eight sides like the UFC’s – but I’m willing to bet both could command more than two-and-a-half grand on the sponsorship market.

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