(Not Exactly as Real as It Gets, But Pretty Damn Real, Relatively Speaking!!™ / Photo via WWE.com)
According to a wild claim from sports gossip blog TerezOwens, TapouT is preparing to announce a deal with the WWE, in which the lifestyle brand will serve as the exclusive sponsor for the WWE’s talent roster, similar to Reebok’s uniform deal with the UFC.
I know what you’re thinking: What does the world’s leading producer of novelty children’s beds have to do with professional wrestling? Obviously, TapouT was a ubiquitous presence in MMA beginning in the late ’90s, but the company’s reputation has faded in the wake of Charles Lewis’s death, assorted legal hassles, and a flood of competitors. Could TapouT really be transitioning to the WWE universe, in order to reach a brand new sub-demographic of douchebags?
At this point, the only official comment from FrontRowBrian is “stock will plunge.” We’re not sure if he’s referring to the WWE’s stock or TapouT’s stock. Probably both. We’ll keep you posted as soon as this rumor is confirmed/debunked.
(Not Exactly as Real as It Gets, But Pretty Damn Real, Relatively Speaking!!™ / Photo via WWE.com)
According to a wild claim from sports gossip blog TerezOwens, TapouT is preparing to announce a deal with the WWE, in which the lifestyle brand will serve as the exclusive sponsor for the WWE’s talent roster, similar to Reebok’s uniform deal with the UFC.
I know what you’re thinking: What does the world’s leading producer of novelty children’s beds have to do with professional wrestling? Obviously, TapouT was a ubiquitous presence in MMA beginning in the late ’90s, but the company’s reputation has faded in the wake of Charles Lewis’s death, assorted legal hassles, and a flood of competitors. Could TapouT really be transitioning to the WWE universe, in order to reach a brand new sub-demographic of douchebags?
At this point, the only official comment from FrontRowBrian is “stock will plunge.” We’re not sure if he’s referring to the WWE’s stock or TapouT’s stock. Probably both. We’ll keep you posted as soon as this rumor is confirmed/debunked.
Tapout is one of the most prominent apparel brands in MMA, worn mainly by the sport’s in-crowd consisting of loyal, uber-cool and educated fans, many of whom who have either trained or competed in martial arts themselves.
In 2012, news broke of a major scandal involving the Tapout brand and Hitman Gear founder Dan Diaz. Diaz had sold Hitman to Tapout in 2007 in exchange for 1.25 million shares in the new company, a five-year employment contract and the promise of radical expansion of the Hitman brand.
What Diaz ended up getting was a raw deal, with Hitman being sold for zero dollars when Tapout was sold to Authentic Brands Group (ABG) in September 2010, thus making his shares worthless. His employment contract was also terminated with the sale to ABG, leaving him high and dry.
Rather than settling for chump change, Diaz opted to take his case to the courts. He’s not just suing for damages—Diaz wants the moral victory of exposing the corruption that robbed him of the personal pride he put into his company.
The trial between Dan Diaz and Tapout/Authentic Brands Group has been set for July 7 of this year. Beyond the damages Diaz is seeking, there are allegations that many MMA fighters who licensed their names for Tapout signature shirts like Chuck Liddell, Kenny Florian and Keith Jardine, have been defrauded of royalties.
(Diaz hanging with the Tapout crew, before it all fell apart. Photo via Dan Diaz/OC Weekly)
Tapout is one of the most prominent apparel brands in MMA, worn mainly by the sport’s in-crowd consisting of loyal, uber-cool and educated fans, many of whom who have either trained or competed in martial arts themselves.
In 2012, news broke of a major scandal involving the Tapout brand and Hitman Gear founder Dan Diaz. Diaz had sold Hitman to Tapout in 2007 in exchange for 1.25 million shares in the new company, a five-year employment contract and the promise of radical expansion of the Hitman brand.
What Diaz ended up getting was a raw deal, with Hitman being sold for zero dollars when Tapout was sold to Authentic Brands Group (ABG) in September 2010, thus making his shares worthless. His employment contract was also terminated with the sale to ABG, leaving him high and dry.
Rather than settling for chump change, Diaz opted to take his case to the courts. He’s not just suing for damages—Diaz wants the moral victory of exposing the corruption that robbed him of the personal pride he put into his company.
The trial between Dan Diaz and Tapout/Authentic Brands Group has been set for July 7 of this year. Beyond the damages Diaz is seeking, there are allegations that many MMA fighters who licensed their names for Tapout signature shirts like Chuck Liddell, Kenny Florian and Keith Jardine, have been defrauded of royalties.
Despite the implications of this news, outside of some mentions on smaller websites like FightOpinion and MMAPayout, larger MMA media outlets have been muted on the trial between Dan Diaz and Tapout. The last time MMA reporters showed this much disinterest in a scandal was in 2009 during the Xyience debacle between Rich Bergeron and Zuffa when Xyience went bankrupt, creditors were stiffed and Zuffa took over the assets.
Unfortunately for Rich Bergeron, the details of how Xyience went bust went over the heads of most people, especially those without the skills to decipher legal jargon. The Dan Diaz lawsuit poses similar problems, as it’s a story about how apparel manufacturers allegedly overcharged for their goods in exchange for various financial kickbacks—a messy, complicated series of underhanded maneuvers occurring in the shadows and crevices of accounting ledgers.
There might be more to the Dan Diaz/Tapout situation than meets the eye: Diaz alleged that UFC owners Lorenzo Fertitta, Frank Fertitta and Dana White were minority of Tapout prior to the company’s sale to Authentic Brands Group.
“There’s no direct proof, but that is what Dan Caldwell (also known as “Punkass”) told me on at least three different occasions,” Diaz told CagePotato. “During one of the depositions, an Authentic Brands Group rep did say [Lorenzo Fertitta, Frank Fertitta and Dana White] were still owners in the new Authentic Brands Group Tapout as well.”
Despite this, Diaz says that the Ferttita brothers and Dana White were non-managing members who had no knowledge of Tapout’s day-to-day operations. If that’s the case, then the owners of the UFC can hardly be held accountable for the charges leveled against Tapout.
The question of why MMA fighters who have had signature shirts made through Tapout would not seek legal action is also a prickly pear. Managers with multiple fighters under contract are not going to be eager to kick up a shitstorm with a company like Tapout that might sponsor other fighters they manage. Other fighters might simply not want to deal with the hassle of dealing with the legal system. Without any action from the fighters, however, it’s a license to steal from them—basically par for the course in the MMA game.
It will be interesting to see what the fallout of the trial is—if Dan Diaz is successful, it may inspire other MMA fighters to seek damages, generating further negative publicity for Tapout in the future.
MMA fighters aren’t exactly known for their fashion sense. So it should come as little surprise that most MMA t-shirt companies produce some pretty questionable designs. The rampant abuse of foil print, skulls, chains, tribal designs and nautical stars among most MMA t-shirts is bad enough on its own; even worse when you consider that they sell for thirty bucks a pop.
Which I guess makes it all the worse when a fighter makes his way to the cage covered in an “athletic fit” Old-English mess. Not only is the shirt revolting, but it’s going to sell for an outlandish sum of money, and be worn by every overweight Texas Roadhouse chef, milquetoast tech support geek and muscle-bound frat boy.
Perhaps the reason that we’ve never attempted an “Ugliest Walkout Shirts” post is because ranking these train wrecks is like ranking, well, actual train wrecks. No matter what order you place them in, you’re a total scumbag for attempting to rank a tragedy from most to least depressing. And besides, you’re clearly wrong about which one belongs at number three. For that reason, these will not be ranked, per se, but rather categorized. How you feel these shirts fall into place is up to you.
MMA fighters aren’t exactly known for their fashion sense. So it should come as little surprise that most MMA t-shirt companies produce some pretty questionable designs. The rampant abuse of foil print, skulls, chains, tribal designs and nautical stars among most MMA t-shirts is bad enough on its own; even worse when you consider that they sell for thirty bucks a pop.
Which I guess makes it all the worse when a fighter makes his way to the cage covered in an “athletic fit” Old-English mess. Not only is the shirt revolting, but it’s going to sell for an outlandish sum of money, and be worn by every overweight Texas Roadhouse chef, milquetoast tech support geek and muscle-bound frat boy.
Perhaps the reason that we’ve never attempted an “Ugliest Walkout Shirts” post is because ranking these train wrecks is like ranking, well, actual train wrecks. No matter what order you place them in, you’re a total scumbag for attempting to rank a tragedy from most to least depressing. And besides, you’re clearly wrong about which one belongs at number three. For that reason, these will not be ranked, per se, but rather categorized. How you feel these shirts fall into place is up to you.
Don’t worry, this won’t be the only Tapout shirt to make this list. The company that is responsible for more ILS than Muscle Beach has produced some downright disgusting t-shirts. We’ve said it before: Tapout has become the new Vuarnet or No Fear.
Taking the cake though has to be Ryan Bader’s UFC 119 walkout. I didn’t think it was possible to dislike anything related to ”Citizenship in a Republic“. I stand corrected.
Ugliest Affliction Shirt: Chris Leben‘s UFC 116 Walkout
Speaking of companies you’ll be seeing more than once, here’s our first Affliction eyesore. The only redeeming quality of this shirt is that the edges are already frayed, meaning it will fall apart much sooner than a normal t-shirt. Then again, if you’re the type of person who wears shirts like this, you probably won’t think that’s such a good thing.
Cain Velasquez is a proud Mexican-American with “Brown Pride” tattooed across his chest. I get how that means any shirt bearing his name is going to play off of his heritage. What I don’t get is why Dethrone wanted this shirt to look like the totally bitchin’ Myspace background of a fifteen year old from 2006.
Sorry Ace, but America’s colors are red, white and blue. And this shirt is hideous.
Ugliest Clusterfuck: Frank Mir’s UFC 107 Walkout
Put yourself in my position for a moment: I am expected to explain to someone with healthy eyesight- someone who is clearly capable of just looking at this mess- why this shirt is ugly. After two hours of trying to write something, I’ve decided that it’s probably for the best that I never look into a career as a guy who writes warning labels for coffee cups.
Ugliest Shirt to Never Be Worn: Aleksander Emelianenko’s “Affliction: Banned” Walkout
Most Half-Assed Shirt: James Toney’s UFC 118 Walkout
Judging by his performance at UFC 118, James Toney spent about twenty minutes studying the ground game leading up to his bout with UFC Hall-of-Famer Randy Couture. Judging by the image above, that’s roughly 5x longer than Twistd Apparel spent designing his walkout shirt. Besides, if you’re going to make something half-assed, at least make it realistic.
Hit that “next page” link for that other Emelianenko, the craziest shirt you’ll see all day, and some lifetime achievement awards for walkout shirt ineptitude…
Being an MMA fan ain’t easy sometimes. Hyped-up fights turn out to be snorefests, scandals damage the sport’s legitimacy, incredible parlay bets get wrecked by incompetent judging, forcing us to explain to our kids once again that Santa Claus most have lost our address this year. On today’s CagePotato Roundtable, we’re discussing the fights and moments that made us want to give up on MMA entirely and follow [*shudder*] baseball for a while. Let us know your own lowest fan-moment in the comments section, and if you have a topic for a future Roundtable column, send it it to [email protected].
It’s crazy how life goes full circle: When I was ten years old, Doug Flutie was my favorite NFL player. I begged my dad to buy me Flutie Flakes for breakfast, so that I too could grow up and be a successful, albeit undersized quarterback for a small market football team. My dad refused, which explains why I’m now a writer (You’re welcome, Andrew Luck). After all, I was too young to remember the real Doug Flutie, the Heisman Trophy winning Boston College quarterback who helped make the USFL somewhat relevant. Flutie may have still been a talented quarterback — especially for his age — but he had clearly lost a step by the time I started watching football.
Thirteen years later I was on the phone with my dad, talking about one of the most lopsided fights he had ever seen. I spent the entire conversation trying to convince him that the small, pudgy guy he just watched get destroyed by a no-name oddity was at one point the most dangerous fighter on the planet. As you may have guessed, I’m specifically referring to Fedor Emelianenko vs. Antonio Silva. But really, Fedor’s entire Strikeforce run can be summed up the exact same way. Perhaps Fedor was too old, perhaps the heavyweight division had simply caught up to him, or perhaps it was a combination of the two. But one thing is clear: By the time that Fedor made his way to Strikeforce, he was no longer the untouchable fighter that he had once been.
Even in his lone victory, a second round knockout against Brett Rogers, he was arguably losing the fight before connecting with the fight ending right hand. And Brett Rogers is no Apollo Creed; he’s barely a pimple on the ass of Vodka Drunkenski. He’s a gatekeeper in every sense of the word — just legitimate enough for EliteXC to have kept him away from a “prime” Kimbo Slice, but not legitimate enough to pose any threat of beating a true contender. We had all the warning signs that Fedor was going to be a bust signing after this fight, yet we chose to ignore them because hey, he won, right?
Being an MMA fan ain’t easy sometimes. Hyped-up fights turn out to be snorefests, scandals damage the sport’s legitimacy, incredible parlay bets get wrecked by incompetent judging, forcing us to explain to our kids once again that Santa Claus most have lost our address this year. On today’s CagePotato Roundtable, we’re discussing the fights and moments that made us want to give up on MMA entirely and follow [*shudder*] baseball for a while. Let us know your own lowest fan-moment in the comments section, and if you have a topic for a future Roundtable column, send it it to [email protected].
It’s crazy how life goes full circle: When I was ten years old, Doug Flutie was my favorite NFL player. I begged my dad to buy me Flutie Flakes for breakfast, so that I too could grow up and be a successful, albeit undersized quarterback for a small market football team. My dad refused, which explains why I’m now a writer (You’re welcome, Andrew Luck). After all, I was too young to remember the real Doug Flutie, the Heisman Trophy winning Boston College quarterback who helped make the USFL somewhat relevant. Flutie may have still been a talented quarterback — especially for his age — but he had clearly lost a step by the time I started watching football.
Thirteen years later I was on the phone with my dad, talking about one of the most lopsided fights he had ever seen. I spent the entire conversation trying to convince him that the small, pudgy guy he just watched get destroyed by a no-name oddity was at one point the most dangerous fighter on the planet. As you may have guessed, I’m specifically referring to Fedor Emelianenko vs. Antonio Silva. But really, Fedor’s entire Strikeforce run can be summed up the exact same way. Perhaps Fedor was too old, perhaps the heavyweight division had simply caught up to him, or perhaps it was a combination of the two. But one thing is clear: By the time that Fedor made his way to Strikeforce, he was no longer the untouchable fighter that he had once been.
Even in his lone victory, a second round knockout against Brett Rogers, he was arguably losing the fight before connecting with the fight ending right hand. And Brett Rogers is no Apollo Creed; he’s barely a pimple on the ass of Vodka Drunkenski. He’s a gatekeeper in every sense of the word — just legitimate enough for EliteXC to have kept him away from a “prime” Kimbo Slice, but not legitimate enough to pose any threat of beating a true contender. We had all the warning signs that Fedor was going to be a bust signing after this fight, yet we chose to ignore them because hey, he won, right?
If we chose to ignore the warning signs in his victory, then we refused to acknowledge that they even existed when he lost. His loss to Werdum? Don’t go saying Werdum managed to bait Fedor and submit him, like we knew he would if he had any chance of winning. Fedor just got caught, and that happens to everyone. His aforementioned loss to Antonio Silva? Whatever, we all know that Bigfoot Silva is too big and strong to lose. It’s funny how quickly the Fedor fans would resort to that justification, while simultaneously praising Fedor for his victories over foes even larger than Silva, such as Hong Man Choi, Semmy Schilt, Zuluzinho…you get the idea. By the time Fedor had woken up from the beating that the much smaller Dan Henderson gave him, the myth that Fedor would ever be untouchable again had been debunked. Sure, some of us were still crying “EARLY STOPPAGE!”; just like some children will insist that their dead goldfish moved before their parents flush it down the toilet.
Interestingly enough, Doug Flutie’s NFL career ended with Flutie successfully dropkicking an extra point — the only successful dropkick in the NFL since the 1941 NFL championship game. It’s not exactly winning the Super Bowl, but it’s the best possible way for the guy to have gone out. Likewise, Fedor has won two straight fights since being released, and will more than likely make it three against Pedro Rizzo on June 21. Is it the most glamorous way for him to finish out his career? Don’t be stupid. But it’s far less painful than watching him lose, which is all I ask for after his time spent in Strikeforce.
I’ve been to many live MMA events over the years, but few are as memorable as those early UFC’s in Louisiana. Most of the people in attendance were there to scream racial epithets at Tsuyoshi Kohsaka — nice place to hang your hat, Seth — so the few ‘real’ fans present had no trouble approaching fighters to shoot the shit after the fights. It was a golden time, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t any uncomfortable moments.
A former UFC champion several times over, Dan Severn was tapped for main event action at UFC 27: Ultimate Bad Boyz. Though he’d been incredibly active during his hiatus from the UFC, the sport had evolved exponentially in the three-plus years since “The Beast” had last stepped foot in the Octagon, and young guns like opponent Pedro Rizzo seemed cut from a different cloth. What followed the opening bell was my lowest moment as an MMA fan.
At forty-two years of age, Severn was clearly near the end of his run as a pro fighter, and he looked dangerously slow and timid against “The Rock.” Straight away Severn shot in, but his once-formidable takedown was thwarted when Rizzo simply stepped aside and gave him a little toss, sending the elder statesman careening to the floor like a chubby chick in an grape-stomping contest. From that moment on there was a sickening feeling in the air that an old man was going to get very hurt. It wasn’t how slowly Severn reacted to a grazing head kick that was concerning, it was that he never reacted. Moments later, a hard inside leg kick chopped Severn down on all fours, but he was quickly back to his feet. Another kick to the same spot caused immediate injury to Dan’s well-braced knee, forcing him to verbally submit while clutching his knee in agony, Peter Griffin-style.
As this was the final bout, everyone sat in their chairs for a moment, thankful that the bout ended so quickly yet disgusted that it had ever been booked in the first place. It was a depressing capper to the evening, and it made me question if there was anything sporting whatsoever about what I’d just watched. I felt ashamed to have been connected to the sport at that moment…then a few weeks later I found out that Randy Couture was coming back to the UFC, and I forgot all about poor Dan’s knee.
At least the UFC learned a valuable lesson: never sacrifice an aging champion to prove how far the sport has evolved.
I would love to give you a history lesson on how the Thai people stole their entire combat style from the Cambodian people but I’ll save that for another day. Today I’ll be honest and forthcoming with you. I’ve been a long time fan of MMA and perhaps really fell deeply in love with the sport because of a group of guys on a reality show called Tapout. However on March 11th, 2009, the entire MMA world was forced to swallow a tough pill in that Charles “Mask” Lewis had died in a horrific automobile accident involving himself, his female passenger, and a drunk driver.
Tapout was founded by Charles and Dan “Punkass” Caldwell, and it stood for something at one time. The industry-leading clothing brand went from $30,000 in sales in 1999 to around $200 million ten years later — sponsoring notable fighters such as Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, Dan Lauzon, Pat Curran and many, many others along the way — and after Mask’s tragic death, I knew it was only a matter of time until his creation was sold. Lo and behold, on September 7th, 2010, barely a year after the death of one of their own, Tapout sold out to Authentic Brands Group in a major apparel merger. (Authentic Apparel would also purchase Silver Star Casting and MMA Apparel.) It might have been the obvious business move, the smart move, just not the one I think Mask would have made.
On August 11th, 2011, Tapout’s new parent company went after Tapout Cancer LLC, a non profit company which raises awareness and money through Brazilian Jujitsu. Surely now Tapout could go no lower, the brand that had once stood for greatness and the little guy trying to make a difference. Now they were attacking charity organizations for trademark infringement? Seriously? I don’t really know how you make steps to clean that much mud of your name but it seems they’re giving it their all because as reported earlier this month by MMAPayout, Tapout will donate a percentage of limited edition t-shirts to the Daniel James Miller Foundation.
That in my opinion is great news but only a small step in a very long road they have to recovery in the eyes of MMA fans everywhere.
Gentlemen, I have seen some dark things in my brief time on this earth. Tribal warfare, nuclear fallout victims, genetically mutated animal corpses, Cannibal Holocaust, Antichrist (twice), A Serbian Film, and a cult-led massacre that I may or may not have been a participant in. Fun fact: I was once at a 4th of July party where a man, tripping his balls off on mescaline mind you, proceeded to drag a deer carcass off the road and feast on it like it was the breakfast buffet at the local Holiday Inn. But none of those things come within eyeshot of the emotional trauma I suffered when I watched Mirko Cro Cop get Mirko Cro Copped by Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 70: Nations Collide.
Let me set the scene for you: I was at a friend’s house, watching the fight on the big screen TV that I both worshiped and secretly hated my friend’s family for having the means to afford. Joining us was my friend’s father — an ex-member of the East Coast Mafia, my friend’s mom — a smoking-hot dog trainer, and their jackass brother-in-law — a MMA novice who was as dopey as he was clueless. The fight began alright enough, with Filipovic landing a solid body kick before getting taken down and spending a couple of minutes on his back. Not great, but I knew that Cro Cop was simply biding his time, waiting for the opportune moment to strike.
And then it happened.
As if God was playing some sick joke on me and me alone, Cro Cop was served fifty pounds (the approximate weight of one of “Napao’s legs” according to Wii Fit) of irony that I’m pretty sure gave me AIDS right then and there. The only reason I can’t confirm this is because I refuse to get tested, wear condoms, or give the prostitutes I have on call my actual name. Ignorance is truly bliss. Anyway, I have never witnessed a fight, aside from Silva/Leites perhaps, that left me with such a heavy sense of hopelessness and dread.
Cro Cop was and always will be a hero of mine; how can anyone state otherwise? His Wikipedia page reads like a Duke Nukem game synopsis and the highlights of Abraham Lincoln’s biography (specifically the passages involving vampire hunting) were mixed in a blender, set on fire, then thrown out of an airplane into a tornado that had just passed through an axe factory. And to see a legend like Mirko fall in such devastating, not to mention (because I already mentioned it) ironic fashion, just made me want to give up on this whole “normal” existence and fall back on the tragic, less refined ways of my past. But I can’t go back to that…not this time. I can’t…go…back…
Josh Hutchinson
The morning of July 22nd, 2009, I awoke to feelings of desperation, anger, depression, and at least 100 other emotions that words would never do justice to. I was very much looking forward to watching a great night of live fights sponsored by Affliction. Instead, like some kind of evil Santa, Josh Barnett rose from whatever circle of hell I’m sure he commands to snatch away the present we were receiving in Affliction: Trilogy.
If there are two things in this world that I love, they are my Thursday night Russian roulette tournaments with the local homeless, and live fights. Josh Barnett fucked up at least one of those for me. Naysayers be dammed, because in case you forgot, Affliction carried names like Fedor Emelianenko, Tim Sylvia, Andrei Arlovski, Ben Rothwell, Josh Barnett, Pedro Rizzo, Renato Sobral, Matt Lindland, Mark Hominick, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Vitor Belfort, (at least five of those names are still relevant) and many others. Hell, they even got Megadeth to perform, for some reason.
I still personally hold the belief that if Affliction: Trilogy had come to fruition; we would be staring down the barrel of two established promotions, competing with each other. That of course would mean a competing talent pool, exciting fights damn near every weekend, and none of the “my way or the highway” mind set the UFC has undertaken (ask Miguel Torres). That being said, I personally hold Josh Barnett responsible for all things bad in my life (as if I have much going on besides MMA). Therefore Nation, the next time that anything remotely bad happens to you — be it stubbing your toe, not being able to pay the rent on time, or your tool shed/meth lab blowing up *sigh*…again — I not only encourage you, but personally insist that you blame it entirely on Josh Barnett.
When you mix a bottle of Makers Mark, the internet and some free time alone there are only 2 possible destinations — Porno or YouTube — and after you finished with the former, you eventually arrive at the latter. Around 2004 or so, YouTube introduced many of us to the street fights of Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson and they were a sight to behold.
I actually felt like I was doing something illegal by even watching them because of the sheer brutality and the fact that the fights were taking place in a random backyard or parking lot. Being an MMA fan since the early days, I knew that he would only have a “puncher’s chance” if he ever found his way to the cage but that didn’t change the fact that he was intimidating. Kimbo was a scary dude and seemingly shared the same identity as Jules Winnfield’s wallet.
Fast forward several years and the sport of MMA was thriving while spawning stars like Chuck Liddell, Georges St. Pierre, and Anderson Silva. It was inevitable that MMA was going to be broadcast live on network TV. The growth of the sport combined with the athleticism and charisma of the competitors had escalated MMA to damn-near mainstream status. It was a natural progression and I knew it was coming. I just didn’t think that the very first prime-time network television MMA main event that everybody across America was going to be exposed to would feature none other than Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson. Back on May 31, 2008, every Tom, Dick & Harry who had little to no interest in “our” sport tuned into EliteXC and CBS touting Kimbo as the MMA flag-bearer. I wanted to puke.
Ratings peaked at 6.51 million viewers during the Kimbo VS James Thompson fight and to say the bout was a technical masterpiece would be like saying Attack of the Killer Tomatoes was Oscar worthy.
The fight was a brawl but to classify it as MMA and force-feed it to the masses of ill informed mouth-breathers was negligent in my opinion. The CBS suits got their ratings and didn’t care that the evolution of the sport was being hindered.
Though Kimbo and CBS did bring new eyeballs to the sport, ultimately the experiment failed for all involved. Kimbo was exposed as being what most of “us” already knew. CBS lost the demographic they craved when EliteXC went belly-up shortly thereafter and the public perception of MMA was damaged a little bit more.
TapouT clothing founders Dan ‘Punkass’ Caldwell and Tim ‘SkySkrape’ Katz sit down with MMAnytt.se in Stockholm, Sweden to talk about bringing their brand around the world. The two announce that TapouT is now the official lifestyle brand for the Ultimate Fighting Championship promotion. That plus a discussion on the future of the sport of mma around the world.
TapouT clothing founders Dan ‘Punkass’ Caldwell and Tim ‘SkySkrape’ Katz sit down with MMAnytt.se in Stockholm, Sweden to talk about bringing their brand around the world. The two announce that TapouT is now the official lifestyle brand for the Ultimate Fighting Championship promotion. That plus a discussion on the future of the sport of mma around the world.
Press Release – LAS VEGAS, NV (March 20, 2012) — TapouT®, the premiere brand in mixed martial arts, has officially released the highly anticipated TapouT XT workout series. The at-home DVD training program consists of twelve MMA inspired workouts featuring elite MMA athletes and will be available for purchase through a long form infomercial and […]
Press Release – LAS VEGAS, NV (March 20, 2012) — TapouT®, the premiere brand in mixed martial arts, has officially released the highly anticipated TapouT XT workout series. The at-home DVD training program consists of twelve MMA inspired workouts featuring elite MMA athletes and will be available for purchase through a long form infomercial and at www.tapoutxt.com.
TapouT XT is the ultimate workout program designed for people of all ages and fitness levels to burn fat and build lean muscle in just 90-days. Developed by fitness expert and professional trainer, Mike Karpenko, TapouT XT is based on the training principle of RIPP: Rapid-Fire, Interval, Precision, and Power. Each TapouT XT workout combines a synergistic series of cardio, strength, core and explosive power exercises coupled with fun and challenging MMA inspired striking.
“As TapouT expands beyond the confines of the octagon it has become clear that everyone faces their own unique fights every day,” says Jamie Salter, CEO of ABG TapouT, LLC. “Our objective with TapouT XT is to show people that their fights matter, and aid them in achieving their goal of staying active.”
The TapouT XT special introductory package contains twelve extreme workout DVD’s plus one instructional Strike Training DVD featuring world-class professional fighters. The package also includes the TapouT XT Training Band and TapouT XT Resistance Band, the only equipment needed to complete the series. The TapouT XT Nutrition Guide gives consumers the ability to customize their meal plan, while the TapouT XT 10-Day Slim Down Guide is designed to jump-start the program for rapid results. Also included in the package is the TapouT XT Custom Workout Calendar, Fitness Guide and signature TapouT XT workout towel. The introductory price of TapouT XT is $119.85 or three payments of $39.99 and is available for order at www.tapoutxt.com or by calling (800) 404-9260.
The TapouT XT fitness program features every day people who have had transformative success with the program, and also showcases world-class MMA athletes such as light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, lightweight champion Benson Henderson, interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit, Ryan Bader, Donald Cerrone, Chris Lytle, Leonard Garcia, Miesha Tate and Vinny Magalhães. “Tapout XT is the ultimate workout. It’s as authentic as it gets,” says world champion Jon ‘Bones’ Jones.
Both the infomercial and the TapouT XT workout videos were produced by Launch DRTV, a leading producer and developer of at-home DVD workout programs.
ABOUT TFIT, LLC®
TFit, LLC is the premier marketer of the mixed martial arts (MMA) inspired in-home exercise and nutrition system, TapouT® XT. Founded in 2011, TFit, LLC. has partnered with some of today’s leaders in the fitness, nutrition, and professional sports industry to help transform personal training into a dynamic and entertaining experience. Visit the TFit, LLC website at www.tfitllc.com for more information.
About TapouT
Founded in 1997, TapouT was the first apparel brand to represent the sport of MMA. Since then, TapouT has become synonymous with the sport and is the most recognized MMA apparel brand in the world with professional athletes and fans alike wearing TapouT as a badge of honor symbolizing the brand’s never quit fighting spirit.
In 2010, TapouT was purchased by ABG TapouT, LLC a division of Authentic Brands Group LLC and has since expanded the brand globally with licensees throughout North America, Brazil, Australia, South Africa, UK and Europe. Product categories include apparel and accessories, training and safety equipment, footwear, eyewear, timepieces, beverages, personal care and more. www.tapout.com
About Authentic Brands Group, LLC
Authentic Brands Group, in partnership with Leonard Green & Partners, is an intellectual property corporation with a mandate to acquire, manage and build long-term value in prominent consumer brands. With offices in New York and Toronto, ABG’s mission is to acquire and manage iconic consumer brands in apparel, sporting goods, action sports, home, celebrity, entertainment and consumer electronics and enhance brand equity through best- in-class brand licensee and direct-to-retail partnerships. ABG holds Marilyn Monroe, TapouT, Silver Star Casting Company, Iron Star, Hitman Fight Gear and Sinister Brand. www.authenticbrandsgroup.com
