Looks like Reebok may have stepped in it again.
On the virtual eve of the UFC’s return to Ireland, the apparel giant is attracting unwanted attention for a UFC T-shirt design that at least one prominent Irishman says is offensive to Ireland.
That Irishman? John Kavanagh, head coach of the vaunted SBG Ireland gym and head trainer to interim featherweight champion Conor McGregor and other UFC mainstays like Patrick Holohan and Cathal Pendred.
only seeing this now. its about the dumbest idea i’ve ever seen. working on it. pic.twitter.com/3FiCA1gj8y
— Coach Kavanagh (@John_Kavanagh) October 21, 2015
The issue is that the map on the T-shirt design shows the nation of Ireland but does not include the counties of Northern Ireland. The shirt ad also includes text reading “Show Your Territorial Allegiance,” which also could be viewed as potentially inflammatory. Northern Ireland is part of Great Britain, but the idea of dividing the nation in such a way was viewed as offensive by Kavanagh, as well as other Irish fans who chimed in on Twitter.
@IKEVF @John_Kavanagh and a line saying “show your territorial allegiance” It’s in very bad taste.
— Julie Kedzie (@julesk_fighter) October 21, 2015
Kavanagh did not mince any words about his viewpoint of the shirt design, taking to Twitter to demand an apology from Reebok and calling the idea “insensitive,” “stupid” and “divisive.”
An incredibly insensitive stupid divisive idea. Its removed by the end of the day or SBG is gone. I expect a sincere apology to Irish fans.
— Coach Kavanagh (@John_Kavanagh) October 21, 2015
As of Wednesday morning, Reebok appeared to have removed the shirt from its site. There was no word on whether an apology would be issued.
To add injury to insult, the reaction comes just two days after Kavanagh announced a new partnership between Reebok and SBG Ireland, which is what Kavanagh apparently references when he notes that SBG Ireland is “gone” barring an apology.
This is far from Reebok’s first problem since signing on to be the UFC’s apparel provider earlier this year. After unveiling new fight kits, fans and fighters noticed several spelling errors and inconsistencies, including the blatant misspelling of lightweight contender Gilbert Melendez’s name, spelling his first name as “Giblert.”
This is all to say nothing of the mixed (at best) reaction to the uniforms themselves, as well as the outcry over the fighter pay structure resulting from the UFC-Reebok deal, which many have claimed will reduce the already-controversial levels of revenue coming into fighter pockets.
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