Max Holloway wasn’t digging Reebok’s restrictions in the early going.
Back in 2015, the UFC introduced Reebok as the official fight week apparel of the promotion. All UFC fighters wear Reebok gear and get paid for adhering to promotional guidelines. At first, Holloway ran into a problem with Reebok that he wasn’t expecting.
Reebok Said No To Holloway’s Hawaiian Flag Initially
Holloway appeared on Joe Rogan’s JRE MMA Show recently. During his appearance, the former UFC featherweight champion revealed that Reebok at first banned state flags from being used during walkouts (via Bloody Elbow).
“They wasn’t going to let me walk out with the Hawaiian flag,” Holloway said of Reebok. “When I first started doing it. Cause that’s when the Reebok came out. I couldn’t put Hawaiian flag on my shorts or anything. So I was like, ‘I’m going to walk out with the flag.’ Reebok was stopping it. They were like, ‘you can’t because it’s a state flag.’”
The issue got resolved quickly once UFC president Dana White stepped in.
“Dana had to approve me walking out with my flag,” Holloway shared. “I was like, ‘nah, we’re going to talk to Dana…’ Dana texted me and said, ‘That’s stupid as s—t kid, just walk with it.’”
Holloway is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Alex Volkanovski at UFC 245 this past Saturday night (Dec. 14). “Blessed” lost his featherweight championship in the process.
