Fighters Only

Issue 102

June 2013

Sports apparel company RYU recently announced it intends to rebrand and, bizarrely, leave the mixed martial arts market. Previously a prominent sponsor for both UFC events and name fighters such as Jon Fitch, the five-year-old Portland-based company has experienced losses and is seeking to refresh its image and business strategy.

RYU chief executive David Campisi told The Oregonian all MMA-related endorsement deals had expired by December last year. Oddly, the move comes as behemoth brands such as Under Armour and Reebok are diving into MMA headfirst.

The company, which has in its ranks multiple former Nike and Adidas employees, will make changes that reportedly include a new logo and a phasing out of the company’s acronym name in favor of its full Respect Your Universe moniker. There will also be a reduction in product prices and new items added to the Respect Your Universe range.

Industry jobs

Who: Craig Clement

Role: Co-president, co-owner and CFO of Hayabusa Fightwear

Info: Hayabusa, an industry leader in fight equipment and apparel, endorses UFC fighters such as Georges St Pierre and Rory MacDonald

What’s been your business highlight at Hayabusa?

“Probably when I got a call from Georges St Pierre’s management asking if we’d be willing to go down to Montreal and meet with him because he loved Hayabusa, he loved the brand, he loved the equipment, and if he was going to be involved with an equipment brand he wanted to train in the best. In most cases you go to the fighters, but with having a high-profile athlete like Georges coming to us it showed the upper echelon of the fight world wants to train in our product.”

What’s a typical day for you?

“I’m in charge of all the finance functions of the business. I have a strong business and accounting background, I’m a chartered accountant in Canada. Anything related to finance I head up those types of roles. I’ve been here since the beginning. The company was founded in 2006 then we really started to get rolling in 2008. In a very short period of time I feel we’ve elevated ourselves to the forefront of the industry quite quickly and effectively.”

Do you have a top business rule?

“This industry has been full of companies who do what the last generation has done. We want to evolve the sport. We don’t want to keep it where it is because if the athletes are evolving the products they’re using should be evolving as well. That’s our motto: always look to improve.”

17

Between its Portland and Las Vegas offices, the Respect Your Universe clothing company has 17 employees.

Nike poised to launch Anderson Silva boot?

Sportswear giant Nike could be about to release a signature boxing boot for endorsee Anderson Silva, UFC middleweight champion. Spotted at the launch event of Anderson Silva’s Muay Thai College in Torrence, California, held earlier in the year, the kicks resemble the one-off Manny Pacquiao Nike HyperKO MP boots, made for his 2012 bout with Timothy Bradley. There’s speculation that if Silva’s pair, which boasted the Brazilian’s famous black and yellow colours, were not a limited run they could see a wider, public release.

Rallying/Crashed: The MMA business can be cruel and kind

Rallying: Venum

Unlike so many come-and-go MMA brands, Venum started sponsoring the upper crust of MMA athletes many years ago and has stayed there ever since. Seen on the likes of former UFC champs Carlos Condit and Lyoto Machida, eight-year-old Venum has enjoyed its marked success thanks to quality gear made in one of MMA’s spiritual homes: Brazil.

Crashed: TCB Fightwear

Once one of the highest profile T-shirt brands in MMA, TCB (or Taking Care of Business) now no longer exists. The peak of its popularity struck in 2010 when it provided the bespoke walkout shirt for UFC superstar Chuck Liddell at UFC 115, but declined through 2011 as its presence in the Octagon waned.