IT LOOKS LIKE one of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s most familiar faces has made his last appearance in the octagon.
Well-known cutman Jacob ‘Stitch’ Duran says he’s been shown the door by the organisation after criticising their sponsorship deal with Reebok.
It comes as a result of an interview Duran gave to BloodyElbow.com on Monday. The UFC’s new Reebok deal prohibits fighters from displaying the logo of any other sponsors — and that extends to crew members like Duran too.
“I was shopping at Costco when I got a text from someone at the UFC asking if I could talk,” Duran, who has been working for the UFC since 2001, told Sherdog.com last night.
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“When I called them, they said: ‘They don’t want you to work for the UFC anymore because of the article you did on the Reebok deal.’ At that point, you know I’m not going to kiss anybody’s ass and try to argue with them so, yeah, it was that quick.
“When I was asked [in the Bloody Elbow interview] about the cutmen, I told him we had to wear the Reebok gear and all they gave us was this generic jacket, but there was no compensation for us. We lost all of our sponsors. So, that created a firestorm.”
Duran also claimed that he made more money from his sponsorships than what he was paid by the UFC: “We were told about a year ago that we were going to lose our sponsors. They wanted us cutmen to be a part of the Reebok deal, to wear the gear, but we weren’t going to get compensated.
“In my book, that’s not right. I spoke up for the cutmen, and with my character, I had to speak out about it. So, now I’m getting penalised for speaking the truth about something that needed to be said.”
Many high-profile UFC stars, including middleweight champion Chris Weidman, have already taken to Twitter to express their support for Duran.
Sooo disappointed to hear about @StitchDuran !! He's the man and was my go to guy. Wrapped me for all my championship fights!
Well-known UFC crew member fired after 'speaking the truth'
IT LOOKS LIKE one of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s most familiar faces has made his last appearance in the octagon.
Well-known cutman Jacob ‘Stitch’ Duran says he’s been shown the door by the organisation after criticising their sponsorship deal with Reebok.
It comes as a result of an interview Duran gave to BloodyElbow.com on Monday. The UFC’s new Reebok deal prohibits fighters from displaying the logo of any other sponsors — and that extends to crew members like Duran too.
“I was shopping at Costco when I got a text from someone at the UFC asking if I could talk,” Duran, who has been working for the UFC since 2001, told Sherdog.com last night.
“When I called them, they said: ‘They don’t want you to work for the UFC anymore because of the article you did on the Reebok deal.’ At that point, you know I’m not going to kiss anybody’s ass and try to argue with them so, yeah, it was that quick.
“When I was asked [in the Bloody Elbow interview] about the cutmen, I told him we had to wear the Reebok gear and all they gave us was this generic jacket, but there was no compensation for us. We lost all of our sponsors. So, that created a firestorm.”
Duran also claimed that he made more money from his sponsorships than what he was paid by the UFC: “We were told about a year ago that we were going to lose our sponsors. They wanted us cutmen to be a part of the Reebok deal, to wear the gear, but we weren’t going to get compensated.
“In my book, that’s not right. I spoke up for the cutmen, and with my character, I had to speak out about it. So, now I’m getting penalised for speaking the truth about something that needed to be said.”
Many high-profile UFC stars, including middleweight champion Chris Weidman, have already taken to Twitter to express their support for Duran.
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