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« | Home | »

New Tapout boss Jamie Salter: Wherever the UFC goes, we go

By Zach Arnold | October 24, 2010

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If you’re looking at what the future for Tapout is, this interview is the best insight into the mind of Jamie Salter. It doesn’t seem as though he’s done yet with his shopping spree in the ‘MMA space’ as he likes to call it.

If you’re rushed for time, start at the 3 minute mark. The interviewer asks him about future plans with the UFC and Mr. Salter basically says whatever the UFC does is what Tapout will do. If UFC goes to China, Tapout goes to China. It’s clear that Tapout is looking for an exclusive deal with UFC and that’s that. When he was asked about working with fighters in DREAM, Strikeforce, and so on his response was blunt — we will not work with ‘secondary’ organizations or fighters. So, in short, the brands he purchased are intended to be tied to UFC and UFC fighters only.

If that response isn’t indicative of where Tapout’s philosophy is morphing from its original days, I don’t know what else to say.

Flashback: What has and hasn’t been said yet about Tapout’s new deal with ABG

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 32 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

32 Responses to “New Tapout boss Jamie Salter: Wherever the UFC goes, we go”

  1. Bryan says:

    Once again the fighters suffer. Nice.

  2. mma clothing says:

    Cheers for the video!

  3. 45 Huddle says:

    The fighters aren’t suffering. This is a guy who understands that there is much more upside to being UFC only.

    The ovation for Jake Shields said it all. People had no clue who he was. Mma fans are UFC fans and that’s about it….

    • Jonathan says:

      We get it 45 Huddle. You want everything that is not the UFC to die and go away, fighters be damned.

      We get it bud. Trust me, we all get it.

      • Mr. Roadblock says:

        What’s the point of that comment? He’s right.

        There’s UFC and everything else. Right now Strikeforce is on about the same level as King of the Cage.

        Jake Shields who is a big internet fan got very little reaction last night. And got booed after fighting his typical fight. That’s proof that most UFC fans don’t pay attention to the other stuff.

        • robthom says:

          “That’s proof that most UFC fans don’t pay attention to the other stuff.”

          ^^
          Should we be proud of this?

        • Jonathan says:

          The point of that comment was to illustrate 45 Huddle’s continually insipid posts that clamor for the destruction of everything that does not fall under the UFC’s logo. He’s a troll, pure and simple, and his hatred for everything that is not the UFC has been noted many times over by myself as well as others.

          I posted a while ago that every time I saw him spewing this same stuff, I told him that I would call him on it and that is what I have done here.

          All he wants is for everything not the UFC to be destroyed, and I do not agree, so I am going to continue to call him on it.

        • Jonathan says:

          And people boo Gray Maynard for fighting the same way…and no one cheers for him when he comes to the Octagon either.

          So does that mean that UFC fans don’t pay attention to UFC fighters?

          That’s what your argument implies.

        • This I find funny. What reaction should he have gotten? Tons of cheers? Boos?

    • Mr. Roadblock says:

      I don’t think it’s fair to call 45 a troll. His posts are consistent. He’s a big UFC fan. He has a different point of view than you do. Big deal.

      In reality you’re the one that’s in the minority.

      On the bully pulpit of the internet contrarian opinions have often gotten more due than they deserve. People pushing Strikeforce as a major promotion (and before that Elite XC and IFL) is a prime example of that.

      UFC is MMA in America. Just like the NFL is pro football and MLB is pro baseball. You don’t have to like it.

      Why would Tapout as a company waste money advertising in Strikeforce or anywhere else? The people that watch SF also watch UFC. Just pay for the UFC audience which is 2-3 times larger.

      As for the Shields point, Shields was supposed to be a big star in Strikeforce and the crowd gave him no reaction on the way out. And booed him after the fight for being boring. He didn’t get a big hero’s welcome. He didn’t get a reaction like anyone even knew (or cared) who he was.

      • edub says:

        What’s better? To be a guy who some call a troll, but pretty much stays consistent on verything he writes. Or to be the guy who chases him around the site crying everytime he posts something.

        Being an internet stalker is nothing to feel good about.

  4. Marvin says:

    How dare the owner of a capitalist enterprise look to maximize his revenues!!!!! /rolls eyes

  5. Chromium says:

    Fuck that guy. Tapout was founded on the principal of growing the sport of MMA and supporting fighters who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford to make a living in it. Tapout’s image, too, was built on that. Seriously, this goes against everything Charles “Mask” Lewis stood for. This is really sickening.

    • Brad Wharton says:

      Yeah, they did that for years, slummed it for years, worked their fingers to the bone for years and nearly went bust for years. You know why? So that one day, they could MAKE MONEY with the BIGGEST BRAND IN THE SPORT.

      Look back at every big sporting brand…Everlast, Adidas, etc…they all started as small ‘by the people, for the people’ brands. Do you think Mask was complaining when TapouT started making the kind of money that allowed him to buy all his fancy clothes, big houses and (ironically) fast cars? Of course not. All three of those guys had a vision and they lived the dream. They also jumped into bed with the UFC as soon as they emerged as the market leader in order to maximise profits. And so they should have; they’re a business, not a charity.

      • I think Tapout has been the preeminent brand in MMA clothing for quite awhile. Probably 7-8 years now. Even going back to pre TUF era, who were the competitors? Pain Inc and Bad Boy?

        Ultimately its a different sport than when they started and now Tapout is a different company with different owners and a different philosophy. No less irrelevant in my mind as to why Strikeforce isn’t running events headlined by san shou fights.

      • Chromium says:

        Of course Mask wasn’t complaining. He died in a Ferrari or something, didn’t he? And with all that money, he never gave up on the core philosophy of sponsoring fighters who would otherwise not be able to fight, and to help the sport. Having all that money MADE IT EASIER FOR HIM TO DO SO. They had a reality show for Christ’s sake showing what they were all about, after they were already pretty well off. Like you said, Mask and his partners got rich off of being for the fighters, _all_ types of fighters, not just UFC fighters, and this never changed until after Mask died. Even their recent advertising campaign with a variety of fighters, including some from StrikeForce, some shown in their every day lives, was all about the principals TapOut was founded on.

        Punkass and Skyscrape agreed to sell to Jamie Salter in part because he was going to leave them in the loop, helping run the business, but it seems they got suckered (I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt that they didn’t straight up sell out).

        Furthermore, they never “jumped into bed” with the UFC until very recently. If they ever “jumped into bed” with the UFC, it was when Dana White got their $365,000 sponsorship deal with Fedor nixed. This didn’t happen “when the UFC emerged as the market leader,” this happened in _June_. Did you just start following this sport in the last two months or something?

  6. Training BJJ says:

    Its a business decision, and unless I am mistaken, Tap Out is privately owned. They can do whatever they want.

    • robthom says:

      Thats the way I see it.

      Just like anybody who’s not a fighter and walks around in tapout gear has the right to look like a douchebag if they want to.

      Its a “free country” (TM)

      They could even grow a soul patch and get a tribal tattoo if they really want you to know it and you still cant call the police on them.

    • Chromium says:

      Has anyone said otherwise? I said it was sickening, not illegal.

  7. robthom says:

    I imagine mark david chapman said the same thing about John Lennon.

  8. smoogy says:

    Zach, do you think an exclusive deal with the UFC is a realistic possibility when even their biggest stars have their own clothing lines? I think that might be a bridge too far in terms of getting fighters to cede their sponsorship rights.

    • Zach Arnold says:

      Sure. Because the truth is, UFC calls the shots in the business and I’ve yet to see anyone muster up the fortitude or the resources (money or legal) to make them back off from doing business on their own terms.

      For those wondering why I wrote about the video, I thought it was an interesting insight into what he sees for the long-term future of not only his business but for MMA.

    • The Gaijin says:

      smoogy – please read and comment on this hilarity…I hope you enjoy the show as much as I did:

      http://www.fightlinker.com/brock-shall-return

      “One loss does not a career define.”

      This from a guy that partied like it was 1999 over Fedor’s loss to Werdum, claiming it PROVED he was overrated, isn’t good, never was…etc, etc.

    • Simco says:

      Recall Henderson and Clinch Gear.

  9. Garrett Bailey says:

    I haven’t worn “mma clothing” for a while now. I don’t see the reason too.

  10. Fluyid says:

    SHARK FIGHTS has canceled their next scheduled show.

    Another one bites the dust?

  11. Zack says:

    I’ll throw my name in the “who gives a fuck about tapout or any other mma clothing brand” hat.

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