The UFC has signed a 6-year fight uniform deal with Reebok. Starting July 6, no other brand will be allowed on clothing, and starting July 15, those prefight banners will not be allowed. The UFC also reserved the right to have a title sponsor for a fight, which will have a patch for everyone's uniform in that event.

Reebok will work with the fighters to design fight uniforms, fighters will have broad discretion on color and style, as long as Reebok is prominently featured on their uniform. If a fighter's specific uniform sells well, they will get a cut.

A big chunk of the money from the sponsorship deal will be set aside to pay fighters who are going to lose their own sponsorship deals, on a 5-tier system where you get paid more the higher you are ranked at weigh-in.

... I guess I don't care?

I had to think about it.

All the bumper stickers all over the fighters are kind of annoying.

But I hate universal anything.

Meh.

Least it will make fan apparel cheaper too.

UFC 181 is tomorrow.... Two good title fights.

Everyone made weight, no one got hurt, which is a minor miracle. (not hurt yet anyway, there have been some brutal day-of scratches this year)

edit: if thats not enough, there are also 2 heavyweight fights on the main card.

Yep, I'm in

UFC 182 next month is good on paper, but we'll have to see if anyone gets hurt. If anything happens to the final 2 scheduled fights, that card starts looking iffy.

I can buy a 1/4 oz of weed for what that just cost.

Great night of fights so far. Anthony Pettis is something else.

This has been a great night so far. We even had a great fight from one of the 2 pre-preliminary fightpass fights.

CM Punk signed with the UFC. I dont know if I like his chances.

pffft. Is fake-wrestling now paying so poorly that he now has to try to make a living prize-fighting? Would be nice if so, only idiots watch WWE.

I guess I'll watch. Should be funny whether he does well or poorly.

I'm interested to see it. He seems the type to take it seriously. It remains to be seen if he can take a strike, though.

He walked away from the WWE over personal disputes, I believe.

I hope Lawler can win this fight. He had a chance in the last fight, and Hendricks took it from him in the 5th round.

I hope he's learned from that.

Should be a great fight wither way.

He had a falling out with th WWE but Im sure he made bank with them. The problem is unlike Brock Punk has no background in any type of combat sport.

What was Lesnar's prior combat sport experience? Not being a smart ass. I genuinely had no idea he had any prior fighting experience.

Real wrasslin

Well, CM Punk has an actual wrestling background though, doesn't he?

Lawler looks like he's just about done. The only thing he has left to fight for now is $$$, he won't be a UFC champion.

Possible theory: maybe Lawler broke his right hand in the 1st

Lawler waited waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long for that.

HOOOOOOOLY FU*******

A 49-46 for Lawler?

I've never been so happy to be wrong. Hendricks was boring as hell as a champion.

48-47 is stretching it...but for a judge to give him a 49-46 score is nuts.

I could see 1,4.,5 for Lawler. I dont see how he got 2 or 3.

That judge was on drugs. I had it 48-47 Hendricks, but I could see an argument for either 49-46 Hendricks or 48-47 Lawler.

When I heard the 3rd judge was 49-46 I thought Hendricks had it.

I thought it was a 3-2 fight either way

It would have to be 1,4, and 5.

Agreed. I hope they don't do a rubber match.

My exact thoughts. When the last score was 49-46, I thought the same thing you did. I bet Hendricks and his camp did as well. lol

I agree which is when I heard 49-46 I thought for sure it was Hendricks fight.

I agree with you both. with the controversial decision though, it will probably happen. UFC loves it's rematches.

I hope Lawler gets Rory Macdonald next, and I hope Lawler beats the stuffing out of him.

The best explanation was the judges in this particular fight scored takedowns lower and disregarded marginal takedowns more often than most judges. Hendricks was basically trying to point-fight him with college wrestling, not really interested at all in finishing or hurting Lawler.

If that were the case, then I'd agree with two judges being able to give Lawler a 48-47. However, even with those guidelines, you can't point out four rounds that Lawler won.

Or they just didn't like Hendricks style. The whole holding against the fence and do jack shit thing did become quite irritating.

It had to be 1,2,4,5. Isn't round 3 the round Lawler took off and didn't really even try to throw anything?

I'm gonna have to rewatch tomorrow. I remember 2 and 3 being that way. I remember Hendricks doing his thing against the fence and also wining the exchanges those rounds.

I had rounds 1, 4, and 5 to Lawler but I didn't think they were going to give him the belt. I wasn't impressed with Hendricks' takedowns and I told my buddy in round 3 or 4 that it's actually been better for Lawler when Hendricks tried to take him down. That's when Lawler was doing his best damage.

I'm glad they gave the belt to Lawler, because for rounds 4 and 5 all Hendricks did was hold his leg and do nothing. **** him.

Agreed. For the 3rd judge, I'll default to my backup explanation: drugs.

How about Pettis tonight? I personally thought he was going to be outmatched tonight, and during the fight it looked like I was correct. When he sees the slightest opening though, he capitalizes and he wins. He is impressive.

LMAO The judges have to turn in their score card after every round right? I wonder how often a judge gets the fighters confused or gives the wrong guy the 10 on the score card.

I'm glad to because Melendez looked like a Hendricks clone in that fight.

This matchup on paper looked like the worst, most difficult kind of matchup for Pettis, and he choked him out. I'm now impressed as hell with Pettis, I hope he's a hell of a lot more active than he has been, though. The UFC needs him to support more cards to avoid another 2014.

Pettis will have to deal with that most of his career. His striking is so dynamic, any fighter who can close the distance or take it to the ground will want to do it immediately.

The impressive thing is he's shown consistently that he can beat it.

Eh, its hard to remember with my now-alchohol-addled brain but I thought Melendez was at least working for position ie trying to get to a submission. Pettis was just so amazing at defense and escaping he never had a chance to get there.

Hendricks had all the time in the world to work to a choke or armlock or something, that boring hillbilly was just using a strategy of pin and pray. I don't think Hendricks attempted a single damned submission with all that ground time he had.

181 post-fight press conference soon. Will be interesting to get Dana's take.

http://i.imgur.com/gEuNlHW.jpg

Huzzah for Marcos Rosales and Glenn Trowbridge. (round 2 for Lawler?!? OK)

Personally I don't really care that the 3rd judge is a ****ing moron after Hendricks' bitch move to stall the fight in rounds 4 and 5.

Lawler just stood there and didn't throw many punches in rounds 2 and 3 while taking a ton of shots. No way did he win either of those rounds. But Hendricks can eat shit for rounds 4 and 5.

Hendricks is being surprisingly humble. Said he thought he won the first 3 rounds, but acknowledged that he fell off in the 4th.

Also said that he got too caught up in the moment of trying to wrestle and get takedowns and didn't do enough besides that. Quote: "I just didn't fight"

Wow. That's surprising. Thanks for sharing. Any interesting notes from Dana about tonight?

Sadly, Dana wasn't there, one of his underlings was at the mic this time. So, the press conference was pretty boring.

Nope.

I'm a huge Punk fan but he's gonna get smashed in the UFC.

Dana White is ridiculous and a complete hypocrite, stuff like this is what pulls MMA back into the circus category...at least Lesnar had the background and credentials.

Won't sign Askren but will sign CM Punk....lol ok.

Damn.

Wooooooow. I had no idea he didn't even have a wrestling background.

I think Dana has proven himself a hypocrite about 100 or so times by now.

Not that I blame him, he's there to make money for the company...and that's what he does.

Right but it's just annoying as hell lol...

Just for some context...

Punk is 36 yrs. old and will probably be 37 before he fights, has two bad knees, has had at least 10 concussions according to his best friend Colt Cabana, and the extent of his fighting experience is being a WHITE BELT in Gracie BJJ.

Yeesh, be interested to see what can they try to pair him up with for his debut.

The ref thought it too...


I just can't see that score.

That and the stupid shit like cm ****ing punk getting signed is what turns me off about the UFC.

Rediculous money grab by punk and the ufc

Punk is gonna get killed

One can only hope.

I dont see how any judge could give a 49-46 to either fighter. I thought Hendricks clearly won 2 and 3, and Lawler clearly won 4 and 5. It all came down to round 1 and I gave it to Lawler because he came out swinging and was landing some pretty good shots. After about 2 minutes it slowed way down and Hendricks got a takedown and attempted some others, but what did he do after that? Every takedown he had he ended up receiving more damage than he did when he was on his feet. I can't recall him ever throwing a punch or trying for a submission on a takedown.

Dana said this:

Here is a google spreadsheet of UFC fighters who have called out CM Punk

Bisping is the only one of those fights where I'd root for Punk

Maybe Emmanuel sanders can join UFC

I had it 3-2 for Hendricks last night. Almost everyone at the bar that I went to watch it at felt the same way. That 49-46 score is criminal.

The key was the first round. Generally speaking, most people had 2 and 3 for Hendricks, and 4 and 5 for Lawler. Round 1 was the tossup.

Yeah, what stuck out to me was Lawler coming out like a house of fire right off the bat.

I just read this. That absolutely sucks for the fighters. Sponsors were a big part of their pay.

Apparently its not "a big chunk" like I assumed. 100% of the Reebok money is going to the fighters. So, this could have the potential of working out OK for them. The UFC only wanted to un-NASCAR their fights, they weren't trying to make more money with this.

Women's strawweight title fight tonight on FS1.

Thug Rose was the only fighter on TUF this season who was at all interesting to watch. She should win tonight.

saw a couple of hags boxing.

There's really not much worth watching until Noons and Cruickshank. There's a decent lightweight and featherweight fight scheduled, then we can cap it off by watching Thug Rose take the title.

Ok did that girl with the zany hair win?

Tonight is an appetizer for tomorrow. UFC Fight night tomorrow looks really great for a free event. The prelims tomorrow are underwhelming, but the main card is stacked.

Thug Rose and that stupid Carla chick coming up next for the title.

Go Rose.

P.S. Holy fat **** Rashad.

I will be very annoyed if Rose does not win this fight.

That sucked. Rose's takedown defense was always a problem.

Well, the women's strawweight champ is going to be boring, so moving on, fight night tomorrow will be awesome.