Joe Lauzon is one fighter who backs up Reebok in their deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Many fighters haven’t been shy about their feelings towards the Athlete Outfitting program the UFC has in place. Many have said the deal caused them to lose a significant amount of sponsorship money. UFC President Dana White has downplayed the negative impact it has had on fighters and insists it’s in their best interest.
During a recent appearance on MMAFighting.com‘s “The MMA Hour,” Lauzon defended Reebok. He said fighters shouldn’t have a toxic attitude towards the brand as it doesn’t help anyone:
“We’ve basically become toxic at this point. There’s no way that Nike, or Under Armour or some other sponsor is going to come in, because, the UFC took the best offer they got, right? Reebok offered the most money. It’s not like Nike came in and was going to give them more money and the UFC went, ‘no, we’re going to go with Reebok instead.’ They went with the best offer, so Reebok was willing to spend the most, and take a gamble on us, and it’s backfired, it’s shot them in the face, right? It has not worked out at all.”
