Ariel Helwani provides an update on the UFC-Reebok deal's future

Ariel Helwani recently tweeted out the current status of the UFC and Reebok deal negotiations. The deal which again came in limelight after the UFC president, Dana White made an appearance on the Dan LeBart show where he spoke about the deal.

Reebok and UFC deal was signed in 2014 and since then has been a central piece of the controversy. The deal per many UFC fighters didn't allow fighters to earn royalty and didn't allow them to secure desirable sponsorships. UFC had always defended the deal saying that fighters could get whatever deal they wanted by simply finding sponsors.

On the show, the UFC president followed the answers along the same lines. Dana White said,

"The fighters get paid. The fighters get paid for whatever sponsor we have, they get a piece of that. And they can have whatever sponsors they want outside the cage.”

When asked if fighters will be allowed to have sponsors in the cage again, his response was, "The fighters get paid. The fighters get paid for whatever sponsor we have, they get a piece of that. And they can have whatever sponsors they want outside the cage.”
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) May 29, 2020

UFC and Reebok might part ways

Now it looks like the UFC might be listening to what the fighters have to say and have agreed to not continue with the deal, at least that is what Ariel Helwani's newer update makes it sound like. Ariel Helwani shared a post that read that he had contacted Reebok for an update on the UFC deal and they hadn't responded with any other quote apart from saying that deal will run till the end of the year.

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An update on the UFC’s uniform deal with Reebok, which expires at the end of this year. The latest is they are going to stick with the uniforms and the front-runner to get the new deal is an MMA-centric apparel line. Are you a fan of the uniforms?

A post shared by Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) on Jun 26, 2020 at 9:20am PDT

If this is true this is great news for multiple UFC fighters as they now have the luxury to choose whichever sponsor they want. This also means that the UFC will now have one partner less and might as a result lose a lot of money at a point when they might need it the most given they have halted all their events.

The UFC and Reebok deal at the end of the day was a heavy one which amounted up to nearly 70 million dollars.