Reebok Deal Possibly Discriminates Against Women

Picture Courtesy of UFC.TV

I was listening to Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour Podcast yesterday and as one of the guests, Ariel had asked Sara McMann, a current fighter on the UFC's roster and a former contender to Ronda Rousey's title at 135 pounds, about her feelings towards the UFC's apparel deal that will come into effect at the beginning of July.  She was very critical of the agreement stating that she believed that the agreement would discriminate against the organization's female fighters.

McMann is not the first woman to come out against the Reebok deal, as former contender and fan favorite Miesha Tate also spoke out over the last couple weeks, calling it "unfair."

To clarify the apparel agreement states that fighters are forbidden from wearing unlicensed apparel at any UFC or UFC sponsored event.  Specifically, this says that a fighter is obligated to wear his or her Reebok apparel that will be issued to them before any event.  This then prohibits any fighter from displaying any sponsors on his or her clothing that are not "official sponsors" of the UFC, a practice that was the norm throughout the UFC's history and many athletes were quite well compensated for the chance to advertise a product on their shorts or on their fight banner before the commencement of the bout.

The amount of compensation garnered by the deal is tiered to benefit the fighters that have seniority over the up in comers that are trying to make a name for themselves within the organization.  In the agreement laid out, fights would be counted if they took place in the UFC, WEC, and Strikeforce.  Which may sound fair to most as even fighters who had come from other organizations that were folded into the UFC would be treated as those who had already been with the flagship company to begin with.

However, this is not the case of women's MMA.  The only division that was introduced was that of then Strikeforce Champion and now UFC Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey in 2013.  Sara McMann was not on the Strikeforce roster when it folded as well as countless other female fighters currently on the UFC's roster.  Instead, they were competing in one of the still remaining female only organizations, Invicta F.C., which is not one the companies counted in the Reebok deal.

As a result, most of the female fighters will have to fall onto the lowest tier in the system laid out by the Reebok deal.  This means that most of these fighters will have to work that much harder to be able to reach the next tier.  McMann was one the pioneers of the sport and she is one of the most decorated athletes on the roster, having received a silver medal for wrestling at the Athens Olympics.  McMann now 34 probably does not have much left in her MMA career and thus she stands to lose a significant amount of revenue due to this new policy.  Also it is very unlikely that she will ever be able to get to the same tier of her male counterparts who also entered the UFC at the same time and who do not have the same accolades.

Another case is that of Carla Esparza who was both the first female strawweight champion of Invicta F.C. as well as the UFC.  She lost her championship recently to the Polish Phenom Joanna Jedrzejczyk as a result she has been bumped down to the lowest tier at the $2,500 per fight mark.  As champion she stood to receive $40,000 of the sponsorship money, which is a significant loss of revenue.  Not just Esparza, but all the strawweights  are in the same boat (excluding Paige VanZant who has a seperate deal with Reebok).  The division itself was only established earlier this year, so these decorated athletes will have to remain with the organization for quite some time before they can make serious money.  Such a low amount cannot possibly compensate the athlete for her time in the gym training for the fight.  Not to mention that in addition to this, the fact that these athletes have to pay their trainers and they have their mangers taking a piece of their purse as well.  When all is said and done is it possible for an athlete in their situation to make a living in their sport?  Will we be seeing fighters with second or third jobs in order to keep their dreams of competing alive?

The reason why the sport has evolved is because athletes are able to focus more and more on their training rather than how they will eat or pay rent.  It has gone a long way since the days of Tank Abbot and Royce Gracie.  But if this type of inequality continues will we see a regression in the progress that was made in women's MMA over these past two years.

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