It appears that Dana White and the UFC have banned both Clinch Gear and also RVCA from the UFC. Essentially what this means is no fighters will be allowed to wear either brands logos or clothing during an event. Apparently Dana wasn’t too happy about Dan negotiating with Strikeforce or RVCA sponsoring Fedor. Although this move is intended to hurt the companies it is obvious to me that it really hurts the fighters the most. Dan Henderson owns Clinch Gear and if the company was to go belly up, which I doubt this move will cause it to do, he would still be fine financially. The UFC banning RVCA probably hurts their bottom line by about $5 so I am sure they are not extremely worried about this move either. The people who are probably worried about this are the fighters who rely on these companies for income month after month.
Here is a little more about the situation:
News is that the UFC has banned Clinch Gear (Dan Henderson’s MMA Clothing line) after UFC 105. There was a good amount of Clinch Gear shown throughout the CBS Strikeforce broadcast, but most likely this is the byproduct of failed negotiations between Dan Henderson and the UFC.
There is also a strong rumor that the UFC has banned RVCA after they sponsored Fedor and appeared on the CBS Strikeforce card as well, though the brand has close ties with BJ Penn, so it would definitely be an interesting scenario if the rumor is true.
Update: a well-placed source within the mma apparel industry indicates that they have heard the same as well, regarding RVCA. Will keep you guys updated.
Source: Bloody Elbow
Isnt BJ still sponsored heavily by RVCA? Does the whole banning of competitors sponsors really make that big of a difference in negotiation pulls and financial standings? it must have done something in the pull of affliction clothing, but from the sounds of it shouldnt break RVCA or Clinch Gear..
BJ is still sponsored by RVCA and this whole thing probably hurts him the most. It is just Danas style to pull stuff like this, he is always doing it. I understand watching out for your business but sometimes IMO he takes it to the extreme. Banning Affliction made sense once they became a direct competitor. However, I think banning RVCA is just a way of frightening companies from sponsoring Strikeforce fighters and events.
[…] UFC has banned Dan Henderson’s Clinch Gear as a sponsor due to Henderson’s negotiations with […]
[…] UFC has banned Dan Henderson’s Clinch Gear as a sponsor due to Henderson’s negotiations with Strikeforce and […]
I don’t think that RVCA will be banned from the octagon with that being one of Penn’s largest sponsors as well as Belfort’s should be interesting how it turns out..
Clinch Gear is just strong arming Hendo, into making a decision one way or another about his contract status, to get someones attention you touch their wallet first and that is what is being done here like it or not…
this is just ridiculous!
fyi: dan henderson owns clinch gear
[…] bout against Diego Sanchez. However, BJ may not be allowed to wear his new RVCA t-shirt due to the possible ban of RVCA by the UFC. I assume BJ will wear Cage Fighter out into the octagon but I have not confirmed this yet. […]
[…] Cage Fighter recently released their BJ Penn UFC 107 Walkout Shirt that BJ will wear as he takes on Diego Sanchez at UFC 107 in Memphis Tennessee. Although BJ Penn had a UFC 107 T-Shirt and fight shorts made by RVCA for his upcoming bout, he will not be able to wear them due to Zuffas ban of RVCA. […]