New UFC Fight Kits Are On Their Way, And They're A Massive Improvement
MMAFighting- The UFC and Reebok announced their new Fight Night Collection on Tuesday, which includes updates to their standard gear, as well as a Legacy Series dedicated to fighters competing in the main events of pay-per-views or in championship bouts.
According to Reebok General Manager of Training Corinna Werkle, the changes are meant to further accentuate the individuality of the UFC’s athletes.
“With the new UFC Fight Night Collection, we wanted to give athletes a product that meets the quality and performance demands that they depend on in the Octagon, but also offer them an opportunity to let their unique confidence and personalities shine through,” said Werkle in a press release.
The UFC and Reebok have been under criticism for years now from fans and fighters alike over their sponsorship deal. After fighter payout, I’d say the aesthetic of the “Fight Kits” (uniforms) was the main part of the deal attacked, but they’re continuously making progress. The first wave offered two colors (black and white) with an assigned trim color based on the nationality of the fighter.
This didn’t go over well at all, because it kinda took away the personality of the fighters. I know that sounds dramatic, but let me use these Funko POPs as an example:
Without the yellow shorts, that’s not Anderson Silva. Without the blue shorts, that’s not Chris Weidman. It’s cut and dried.
The second wave introduced colored shorts, once again based on the nationality of the fighters, and just that slight change made things drastically better.
And now, with the third wave, we have…pizazz! There’s no longer just flat colors, there’s some shiny shit, I don’t know how to describe em, just look at the pictures. They’re much better. So props to you, Reebok, for listening to criticism and evolving.
I’d like to take this time now to remind you what Joe Lauzon had to say about the deal…
Joe Lauzon says Reebok spent $70mil, "not making a return on their investment…'cause all these fighters are being negative." #TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/n3bwAZGCmj
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) June 13, 2017
It ain’t ALL that bad, and it definitely isn’t all on Reebok. We need to cut them a little bit of slack.
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