Ten days after Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers went down in Chicago last November, ZUFFA banned RVCA from sponsoring any UFC or WEC fighter. Apparently it was a knee-jerk reaction to Fedor appearing on CBS rocking this little outfit inside the Sears Centre. Dan Henderson's Clinch Gear line was also banned shortly after UFC 105 (which happened exactly a week after Fedor's Strkeforce debut).

This week, it appears that TapouT has abruptly removed their signature Fedor shirt from the website. Earlier this week, the shirt could be accessed at this link but has been removed from the online inventory within the past 48 hours. Bummer for anyone that wanted to snatch up this soon to be collector's item. [Source]

Update: Pedro from BJ Penn.com gives us the reason why TapouT pulled the shirt, and yes, UFC is involved:

Initially, Fedor Emelianenko, the number one heavyweight fighter in the world, secured a deal to sport the always growing and ever popular “TapOut” clothing line at this weekend’s Strikeforce events.

However, during my time here in San Jose, while spending time with very legitimate sources close to the situation, I was advised that certain parties within the UFC halted TapOuts participation in the event and threatened a UFC lifetime ban, if Emelianenko came out wearing their line.

Similarly, In Fedor’s last outing he came out wearing the ever popular RVCA clothing line which resulted in the UFC’s temporary ban from the Orange County based lifestyle Apparel Company. We witnessed evidence of said ban when UFC star BJ Penn did not come out in his traditional RVCA gear during his title fight against Frankie Edgar.

RVCA has since made amends and as is now Octagon worthy once again. However TapOut was apparently not willing to take on the same gamble as their Orange County counterpart and pulled the deal from Fedor, just days before Strikeforce goes live.

In an industry monopolized by the UFC, getting banned from their fighters is a huge blow to any company trying to make it to the big stage. Tap Out opted to keep their relationship with the UFC intact and the Russian based M-1 management team secured the deal with Dan Henderson’s Clinch Gear.

In a moment of sheer irony that could only be appreciated by climbing your nearest mountain and screaming at the top of your lungs, Clinch Gear is now creating Fedor's official walk-out shirt and shorts for tomorrow's bout.

Comments   

 

+1 # merlin 2010-06-25 20:43

the clinch gear fight shorts he is supposed to be wearing are pretty nice too, but they are a 100 bucks to buy on mma overload, too much bank for me

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+1 # TimeToDie 2010-06-25 20:48

the clinch gear one looks way betttter!
and less bro-ish

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0 # Guest 2010-06-26 10:36

bro-ish...as opposed to what?

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0 # Guest 2010-06-25 20:51

Dana White if he begrudges Dan Henderson the success of his clothing company.

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0 # Guest 2010-06-25 21:50

CRAZY

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-2 # Guest 2010-06-25 22:08

they look the same ones just bright red, and boring and one is black with bright red, clinch couldn't even be creative? its just like the rvca shirt

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0 # Guest 2010-06-26 11:37

i agree, its essentially the same shirt. oh well

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+6 # Dr. Frasier Crane-kick 2010-06-25 22:36

this is soooo petty. Dana is being a little baby. its not as though tapout was selling strikeforce shirts. I guess Fedor hates DW so much because he acts like a dictator.

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+4 # Guest 2010-06-25 22:50

Dana just keeps finding new ways to be a bitch.

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+6 # sergiotx 2010-06-26 04:23

Seriously, the Clinch Gear shirt is baller.

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-1 # Guest 2010-06-26 04:37

nothing 'ballin' about that shirt. Its basically a carbon copy of the RVCA shirt from last yr.

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+6 # sergiotx 2010-06-26 04:42

Copy or not, I'd still rock it.

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+2 # Guest 2010-06-26 05:24

Let's assume this is all true. TAPOUT are the true bitches of this deal. With all the money spent on fighters and TUF and other sponsorships within the UFC they had a better chance at standing up to Gayna and the UFC and telling them to go fuck themselves.

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+4 # Guest 2010-06-26 06:51

Dana White's such a little bitch. He keeps saying how he doesn't think about Strikeforce and they're crappy organization but I bet he keeps jumping up during his sleep in cold sweat screaming STRIKEFORCE!!! For a guy who doesn't give a crap about Strikeforce he's doing an awful lot of nasty stuff to counter program and ban clothing. Next he's gonna ban his fighters from talking to Strikeforce fighter.

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+2 # Guest 2010-06-26 08:50

On the bright side, this means Fedor's spared from having to wear that god-awful TapouT shirt in public...

And all of the designs are variations on the Russian coat of arms anyway..

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0 # Guest 2010-06-26 09:53

fine by me...TAPOUT is ugly as hell while some of the Clinch Gear stuff looks nice. The Fedor shirt included. Clinch Gear and RVCA are the best.

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0 # Guest 2010-06-26 11:47

Glad Clinch Gear is making them now. I already picked mine up from http://www.mmaoverload.com/clinch-gear-fedor-emelianenko-last-emperor-walkout-t-shirt.html . Got the black! It looks like the RVCA version but a bit better IMO.

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0 # Guest 2010-06-26 17:17

Maybe someone can verify that Tapout has an exclusive promotional clause with the UFC. Meaning they can sponsor fighters in other promotions but not sponsor other promotions. But since Fedor is part owner of M-1 which is an MMA promotion then Tapout can't sponsor him per the terms of their exclusive promotional deal with the UFC???

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