UFC responds to claims that Reebok deal unfair to women
UFC responds to claims that Reebok deal unfair to women
After several females in the UFC’s bantamweight division openly discussed their concerns about the UFC’s recent partnership with Reebok, most notably, Miesha Tate, the UFC issued the following statement.
“The new UFC Athlete Outfitting Policy (AOP) equally recognizes each athlete’s tenure in UFC, as well as any bout appearances in the WEC and Strikeforce for the period those organizations were under the Zuffa, LLC ownership. Women fighters with limited bouts under the tenure model are treated the same as other experienced men or women new to UFC from other organizations not included in the tenure model. This new policy was designed to provide an equal opportunity for both men and women in each tenure tier. In addition, the champions and challengers, regardless of tenure, will be equally compensated under the AOP for their bouts, something few other sports can claim.”
Before the UFC’s above response Tate made the following statements which promoted the company’s reaction.
“Honestly, I’m not that excited about the numbers,” Tate said. “I’m taking a big loss on my sponsorship dollars, so I’m definitely going to be making nowhere near as much.”
“I think it’s a little bit unfair for Women’s Mixed Martial Arts because we’ve barely been in the UFC very long,” she states. “We don’t have the same number of fights as the guys do, because they wouldn’t let us in forever, you know?”
“The UFC has been around a long time, but Women’s MMA in the UFC has been there for a little over two years so it’s not fair,” Tate continued.
“I probably have the most fights (among the female fighters) because of Strikeforce, and I’m still only on the second tier, so I get 5000 dollars,” she exclaimed. “So I’m losing probably 90% or like 80% of what I make in sponsorships, so that hurts.”
