UFC kicks MMA to new level with Reebok deal

TORONTO — The UFC has joined forces with Reebok on a six-year deal billed as the biggest non-broadcast partnership in the history of the mixed martial arts organization.

UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta called the agreement “a seminal moment for this company and for this sport, taking it to another level.”

The deal will change the way UFC fighters look.

Instead of a mishmash of sponsors on shorts (or tops for women), they will wear gear with the Reebok logo with perhaps one title sponsor.

“Think more along the lines of European soccer,” Fertitta said before the official announcement in New York. Any title sponsor on the Reebok gear will be “a major global brand,” Fertitta promised.

“Just that alone is going to completely change the perception of the sport, the perception of the athletes, the level that where we’re at,” he added. “This is a true game-changer.”

The new “athlete outfitting policy” will start in July.

Fertitta declined to detail the value of the Reebok deal but said “the vast majority if not all of the revenues” will go to the fighters in the beginning. The UFC hopes to dip into the revenue itself down the line as it grows.

For the UFC, a partnership with Reebok adds legitimacy to combat sports. Indeed, it’s a far cry from condom and gun shop ads that used to adorn fighter shorts.

Fighters will be paid to wear the new gear on a per-fight basis. How much they get will be based on their ranking the day of the weigh-in.