Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
It will either be Nike, Under Armour or Venum appearing on UFC merchandise as of next year.
The UFC’s outfitting deal with Reebok is set to expire at the end of this year, and Dana White has hinted at the next sponsor in line for the promotion.
Recently talking on “The Schmozone Podcast”, White hinted that either Nike, Under Armour or Venum will be the UFC’s next official outfitting partner as of 2021.
“Obviously I can’t tell you that,” White said when asked about the three specific companies, before confirming that “yes, one of the three.”
When the UFC signed the $70-million deal with Reebok in December 2014, it had a huge impact on the fighters as they could only wear Reebok and no other sponsors when representing the UFC. The deal first came into effect at UFC 189 in July 2015.
Currently, fighters are paid Reebok sponsorship money depending on how many UFC fights they’ve had. Ranging from fighters who have less than three fights earning $3,500 per fight, to fighters with over twenty-one bouts earning $20,000 and champions earning $40,000. Some fighters such as Conor McGregor and Paige VanZant have had individual sponsorship deals with Reebok.
It’s currently unknown whether the UFC will alter this tier system in with their new outfitting deal. Several ex-UFC fighters have said the Reebok deal was a major reason they left the UFC, citing it as “terrible for the fighters” and only being put in place for the UFC’s sale for $4-billion in 2016.