After Nike's failed attempt at making inroads in the surfing industry, they have finally latched on the huge popularity of MMA. Nike's first big sponsorship deal was with current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, Jon Jones. But during his first fight sponsored by Nike in September, Jones' fight shorts were also covered with other logos in typical MMA fashion. The Nike swoosh was black and not easily visible on the back of Jones' shorts. These fighters don't make that much for each fight compared to other athletes so multiple sponsors are necessary, which makes each logo less prominent on the limited space of fight shorts.

However, last night Nike was clearly the main sponsor on the shorts of Junior Dos Santos (seen above) in his fight against UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez. Either Dos Santos has a lack of sponsors (not likely), or Nike is starting to put up enough money that fighters don't need to scrounge around for smaller sponsors. Either way, it will be interesting to see if Nike sticks around or leaves the sport after a year or two like they did with surfing.
2/2/2013 06:53:44 am

If they want a name like DROP U, Im trying to get it off the ground, I need some help, would love them to take control and blow it up! if you know anyone who is interested, contact me!

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12/6/2020 10:44:13 pm

Hi, thanks for posting this.

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