UFC women's bantamweight champion "Rowdy" Ronda Rousey is one of the few fighters in the company's roster who was pleased with its recent partnership with global sports apparel brand Reebok.
Since its official announcement on Monday, it has garnered mixed reactions from fighters, so far. While some were not happy about it, others were surprised since they did not know about it until it was announced.
The most vocal expression of dissatisfaction came from Stockton, California native Nate Diaz, younger brother of former Strikeforce champion and mixed martial arts veteran Nick Diaz.
The stipulation of the deal states that fighters are no longer allowed to be sponsored by any other apparel brand other than Reebok, and are required to use their outfit during all UFC sanctioned events, including non-pay-per-view shows and appearances in original content such as online shorts and videos.
The said ruling made the younger Diaz upset as he took it all out on Twitter, where he virtually gave the UFC the middle finger along with the message "Here's what I think of your B**cha** uniforms."
But this has not been the case with Ronda Rousey.
In fact, the undefeated 135-pound fighter, who holds the record for the second-fastest knockout victory in the UFC, believes that it benefits not only herself, but all female fighters, in general.
"Women do present an entirely unique problem for MMA clothes, and I've had some near accidents," Rousey said in an interview with MMAFighting.com's Ariel Helwani. "Women's clothing for MMA has never existed before so I'm excited to see what they come up with."
The existence of "uniforms" in the UFC may not sit well with some fighters, as they have their own respective sponsors, and there may arise a problem with how the outfits will be designed.
But as for Rousey, it is an interesting development for mixed martial arts as it attempts to further establish itself as a mainstream sport, and it is something to keep an open mind about.
"I'm sure it will be customizable," she said. "Of course, everything's going to be Reebok but you can make it your own."
