10 Improvements UFC Has To Make
1. Give Top 10 Fighters Control Over Their Own Gear
Ever since Reebok decided to pay the UFC $70 million to become the promotion's exclusive apparel provider in 2015 and strip away all personal sponsorships from their contracted fighters' gear, it would be fair to say that the partnership has been a little hit and miss in terms of popularity.
If you've got a few fights under your belt, have the honour of being a title challenger or even hold one of the division's belts, the deal isn't actually that bad. Yet, for those who have the drawing power of a Conor McGregor, Amanda Nunes or Nate Diaz, you can only imagine the size of the lucrative sponsorship deals they're missing out on.
Yes, the Reebok brand is a recognisable one and helps keep everyone in the promotion under one universally respected banner. Yet, handing some of the most notable draws in the company - or even the top 10 ranked fighters in each division - the chance to print a few of their own sponsors onto their kit, could help keep Dana White's stars happy and in profit.
This doesn't mean that the fighters would need to eradicate all traces of Reebok from their gear and you could even still enforce the complete-RBK rule (accompanied by the current sponsor pay structure) on those outside of the top rankings.
The 6 year deal has another 2 years to run, so this could prove to be a watershed moment for the UFC or they could just merge with another markee sporting name and further p*ss off their roster.
All will be revealed in 2021...