Though the UFC would not reveal the three fighters fined due to violations of their Reebok Athlete Outfitting Policy in December, it appears we now have all three of them revealed.
First, Donald Cerrone revealed that he’d been fined for the patch he wore on his shorts at UFC on Fox 17. Then, Nate Diaz let it be known on Twitter that he was fined for the jeans he wore to weigh-ins for his UFC on Fox 17 bout with Michael Johnson:
Those were #reebokjeans u should’ve just kept the whole check I don’t need that baby ass shit anyway ..🔫 #1000✌🏼️
— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) January 10, 2016
And now MMAFighting.com reports that Champ Rafael dos Anjos was fined a “significant” amount of money out of that bout with Cerrone.
According to the report, it was dos Anjos’ decision to wear an Evolve MMA shirt – a camp at which he trains part time in Singapore – to the weigh-ins that led to his fine.
Diaz, in his 21st fight in the UFC, was to make $20,000 from Reebok; Cerrone, as challenger, $30,000; dos Anjos, as Champion, $40,000. Though the exact amount of the fines hasn’t been revealed, Cerrone himself said his was more than $5,000, and with dos Anjos’ being “significant,” it could be even more than that.
Penick’s Analysis: Once again, the UFC at the moment can do what they want on this front until there’s a significant challenge or push back from the fighters themselves. If they have more and more high profile fighters willing to take the hit from their Reebok payouts, we could see this happen more often. They’re obviously hoping the fines are a deterrent, but the arbitrary nature of the punishments, along with the complete lack of say on having any of this get put together to begin with on the part of the fighters. And on that note, if dos Anjos actually got paid to wear the Evolve shirt at the weigh-ins, that could bring another set of complications for the UFC, as open defiance from one of their champions is an issue.
[Photo (c) Joe Camporeale via USA Today Sports]
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