Report: Corner people must wear Reebok per UFC’s new policy or fighter will face discipline

Fighters won’t be the only ones affected by the UFC’s new uniform policy with Reebok.

Not only will the athletes be required to wear Reebok apparel throughout fight week, whenever cameras are around, their corner people must do the same, according to Bleacher Report, which obtained the UFC’s new Athlete Outfitting Policy and detailed it Wednesday. The policy goes into effect in July.

If someone in the fighter’s corner refuses to comply with the UFC’s new uniform rules, said fighter will be subject to “penalties, fines and may be removed from the fight.” Of course, the same goes if the fighter himself or herself decides not to wear Reebok during fight week.

Well-known coach Greg Jackson has already told Sherdog that he stands to lose quite a bit of sponsor money from this new deal.

So, what do fight-week events consist of exactly? Well, any kind of open workouts, media day, weigh-ins and press conferences. Fighters must be essentially dressed head-to-toe in Reebok throughout those activities. Upon check-in at the host hotel, each competitor will get a ton of Reebok gear: a hoodie, t-shirt, workout shorts, weigh-in shorts, weigh-in walkout sweatpants, a weigh-in t-shirt, a weigh-in walkout hoodie, a weigh-in hat, a gym bag, socks, shoes and even underwear. Women’s fighters will get a sports bra, too.

The one exception is for press conferences fighters are allowed to wear business or business casual attire with no visible logos rather than Reebok.

The UFC’s rules regarding Reebok-only duds also stretch to UFC-produced shows like UFC Tonight, UFC Embedded, The Ultimate Fighter, UFC Countdown, Ultimate Insider and Road to the Octagon. The same goes for anyone else appearing on UFC programming — training partners, people at gyms and guests, too, according to Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter.

If it all sounds very, well, uniform that’s because it is. However, fighters will get to work with the UFC’s new Equipment Department to develop styles for their individual merchandise. As for color of gear, a fighter in the UFC’s official rankings gets first dibs. If both competitors are ranked, the one ranked higher gets to choose first.

The UFC logo may not be covered, but the UFC does reserve the fight to add a sponsor logo to every single product worn by each fighter during fight week.

The biggest questions surrounding the Reebok deal have to do with how much fighters will get paid and how it will be allocated. UFC president Dana White originally said every penny of the deal would go to fighters, but that isn’t necessarily true.

According to the Athlete Outfitting Policy, fighters will get the “vast majority of the revenue,” but a percentage will also go to the Fight for Peace charity. There was no solid information on actual amounts of money. The distribution will be determined by the rankings, which has already been reported, but no figures were released in the document.

Another interesting note is that fighters are required to give back one item from his or her walkout gear to the UFC equipment manager (not including underwear). The speculation is that the UFC will then sell it online as fight-worn gear. Fighters do get a 20 percent cut on the back end for merchandise sold with their name or likeness on it.

Fighters won’t be the only ones affected by the UFC’s new uniform policy with Reebok.

Not only will the athletes be required to wear Reebok apparel throughout fight week, whenever cameras are around, their corner people must do the same, according to Bleacher Report, which obtained the UFC’s new Athlete Outfitting Policy and detailed it Wednesday. The policy goes into effect in July.

If someone in the fighter’s corner refuses to comply with the UFC’s new uniform rules, said fighter will be subject to “penalties, fines and may be removed from the fight.” Of course, the same goes if the fighter himself or herself decides not to wear Reebok during fight week.

Well-known coach Greg Jackson has already told Sherdog that he stands to lose quite a bit of sponsor money from this new deal.

So, what do fight-week events consist of exactly? Well, any kind of open workouts, media day, weigh-ins and press conferences. Fighters must be essentially dressed head-to-toe in Reebok throughout those activities. Upon check-in at the host hotel, each competitor will get a ton of Reebok gear: a hoodie, t-shirt, workout shorts, weigh-in shorts, weigh-in walkout sweatpants, a weigh-in t-shirt, a weigh-in walkout hoodie, a weigh-in hat, a gym bag, socks, shoes and even underwear. Women’s fighters will get a sports bra, too.

The one exception is for press conferences fighters are allowed to wear business or business casual attire with no visible logos rather than Reebok.

The UFC’s rules regarding Reebok-only duds also stretch to UFC-produced shows like UFC Tonight, UFC Embedded, The Ultimate Fighter, UFC Countdown, Ultimate Insider and Road to the Octagon. The same goes for anyone else appearing on UFC programming — training partners, people at gyms and guests, too, according to Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter.

If it all sounds very, well, uniform that’s because it is. However, fighters will get to work with the UFC’s new Equipment Department to develop styles for their individual merchandise. As for color of gear, a fighter in the UFC’s official rankings gets first dibs. If both competitors are ranked, the one ranked higher gets to choose first.

The UFC logo may not be covered, but the UFC does reserve the fight to add a sponsor logo to every single product worn by each fighter during fight week.

The biggest questions surrounding the Reebok deal have to do with how much fighters will get paid and how it will be allocated. UFC president Dana White originally said every penny of the deal would go to fighters, but that isn’t necessarily true.

According to the Athlete Outfitting Policy, fighters will get the “vast majority of the revenue,” but a percentage will also go to the Fight for Peace charity. There was no solid information on actual amounts of money. The distribution will be determined by the rankings, which has already been reported, but no figures were released in the document.

Another interesting note is that fighters are required to give back one item from his or her walkout gear to the UFC equipment manager (not including underwear). The speculation is that the UFC will then sell it online as fight-worn gear. Fighters do get a 20 percent cut on the back end for merchandise sold with their name or likeness on it.