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By Anthony De Franco  March 17, 2010, at 12:58 am  Sponsorship is a huge part of Mixed Martial arts. Let’s be honest, your favorite fighter could not sustain himself without help from the brands we know and love in the MMA community. Hell, certain websites even devote whole stores to MMA Brands.
UFC 2009: Undisputed did a decent job of representing this, but a lot of the cooler brands (Silver Star, Dethrone Royalty) were missing, and the menu was buried deep in the Create-a-Fighter. So deep, in fact, that I know people who just completely ignored this facet of the game. THQ has promised to rectify this in the sequel, and has taken the first step by re-launching their website and adding a “partner” list.
Here’s the full list, transcribed by yours truly. I’m sure someone will steal this, so if you do and don’t give us credit…Fuck you, sir.
- UFC
- Affliction
- American Fighter
- And 1
- Bad Boy
- BSN
- Cage Fighter
- Clinch Gear
- Death Clutch
- Dethrone Royalty
- Ecko MMA
- Fairtex
- The Fight! Network
- Fighters Only Magazine
- FYT
- Hayabusa
- Headblade
- Hitman Fight Gear
- Hostility
- Lugz
- Metabolic Adaptation
- MMA Connected
- MMA Elite
- MMA Warehouse
- MMA Fighting
- MusclePharm
- MicroTech
- Nogi
- NuVasive
- One More Round
- OTM Fight Shop
- Pain Inc.
- Punishment Athletics
- Premier Fighter
- RVCA
- Silver Star
- Sinister
- SPIKE TV
- SPRAWL
- Suckerpunch
- Take A Nap
- TapouT
- Throwdown
- Toe 2 Toe
- Tokyo Five
- Venum
- Warrior International
- Xyience
- Yard Barker
- Yuke’s
Wow…that is a list, people. Anything in Bold is new for 2010.
Here’s some interesting things. First off, we share two sponsors with the game, MMA Warehouse and Yard Barker. Speaking of Yard Barker, isn’t it interesting that there are Media sources in there as well. How about MMA Fighting? Any chance we get to see a virtual Ariel Helwani? I sent him a tweet. Waiting to hear back.
Also, Clinch Gear is still in the game, huh? That is interesting because it is owned by Dan Henderson. As everyone knows, Henderson has left the UFC for the “greener” pastures of Strikeforce.
Most importantly, all the awesome MMA brands are there. That means lots of cool logos, T-Shirts, Fight Shorts, and other cool stuff in UFC 2010: Undisputed, and that means a more authentic experience.
By Anthony De Franco February 8, 2010, at 11:29 am It’s been no secret that WEC poster boy Urijah Faber has long wanted a rematch with Tyson Griffin. Griffin defeated Faber when they were both in Gladiator Challenge. Some time ago, rumors were running rampant that Griffin would drop to 145 and the two would get it on.
Tyson quickly debunked those rumors citing the fact that he had added too much extra weight since fighting at 145. Now, Faber is willing to put on some weight to get another shot, according to MMA Junkie.
“I’ll be around here for a while, and I’d love to get that fight again,” Faber said at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
“(It’s the) same with going up in weight. I’m not trying to mow through the weight class; I’m trying to fight superfights that fans want to see. At this point for me, I’ve had 26 fights, and I just want to do big, exciting fights. Go up? Go down? It’s all good.”
As before, Faber admitted his frame is not ideal for fighting at lightweight.
“I wrestled in college at 113 pounds for five years,” he said. “I know I could go to [135 pounds] if I wanted, but I’ve also been trying to put on weight for the last six years, so I feel most comfortable at [145].
“I would feel really comfortable at [155], but I would be at a disadvantage size-wise with my body structure and everything, and I’d be just about right at [135].”
While Faber would be at a huge size disadvantage at lightweight, it would be a huge fight for the UFC and certainly would bolster the popularity of the WEC. However, Faber needs to get past Jose Aldo first at the WEC’s Pay-per-view debut.
By Anthony De Franco February 4, 2010, at 1:53 pm We now know that the WEC is going to Pay-Per-View. You may or may not agree with it, but on April 24th, Reed Harris and the boys take the jump into the big boy pool.
However, When I saw the poster, I noticed something interesting on it. Let’s play I spy:
Notice anything? Well, I spy a logo at the top that says: UFC Presents. It’s official, The UFC has finally admitted publicly to having something to do with the WEC.
Okay, that’s being a little harsh. However, we’ve heard so much about keeping the two companies seperate and that being a reason why Urijah Faber is being paid 25,000 dollars and not much, much more. Now, it appears as Pay-Per-View rolls around, the UFC is throwing it’s weight behind it’s little brother.
Of course, this is an excellent business move. While you and I know that the WEC is owned by ZUFFA, most normal everyday people don’t. People are a lot more likely to buy this card, despite the fact that it’s loaded with great talent, if the UFC puts their little logoized blessing behind it.
That is if Strikeforce doesn’t declare war by putting Fedor on the same date. If they do, look for Dana White to destroy Scott Coker within a couple of years, or sooner.
By Anthony De Franco January 19, 2010, at 2:17 am Cheick Kongo is a dangerous man. He might be coming off a couple of losses, but he is a dangerous striker in a division full of guys that can put you on the mat with just one punch. Not to mention the fact that those losses came to Frank Mir and Cain Velasquez, Two guys who are in title contention.
Another of the TapouT Signature series, This shirt is an interesting take on the French flag. Congo is a native Parisian, and one of the few French fighters out there. He trains at The Wolf’s Lair in England, where some of Europe’s best, including British MMA poster boy Michael Bisping plies his trade.
MMA Warehouse has it for 27.99
For more TapouT Signature shirts, check out The 3rd String Store.
By Anthony De Franco January 18, 2010, at 2:18 am Demian Maia was supposed to be the guy on the fast track to dethroning Anderson Silva. Until he ran into Nate Marquardt’s fist at UFC 102. With that knockout, his name went back into the magical hat of the middleweight division.
However, he tries to get back on the horse at UFC 109 against Dan Miller. Here’s the shirt he’ll be wearing to the cage on that night:
Maia is a submission specialist who has a shot at being something very special. All he needs is to build somekind of stand-up game to deal with the first few minutes of the fight, and he could be a championship caliber fighter. Buy this shirt and get on the bandwagon. Maia is going nowhere but up.
MMA Warehouse has it in stock for 39.99.
For more Bad Boy Gear, visit The 3rd String Store.
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