The headline speaks for itself.
We received terrible news recently that the UFC will not approve our sponsorship of welterweight Jon Fitch at UFC Fight Night 10 on June 12, which is less than one week away.
No reason was given and the folks who I attempted to contact over at UFC headquarters didn't respond.
The unresponsiveness is not surprising.
I'm just a small-time blogger trying to market and support an up-and-coming fighter -- not some big-time player with deep pockets. And if the UFC doesn't agree with that -- for whatever reason -- then far be it from me to tell them how to run their business.
Even though I'm beating myself up over the exact reason (Is this a new policy? Did we tick someone off? Have we been confused with another site?) I've more or less accepted the decision in large part because I'm left with no other option.
It is what it is and I'm literally powerless to do anything about it.
I will say this: The primary purpose of this site it to promote the sport of mixed martial arts -- and the UFC in particular -- and give fans a place to talk, catch up on news -- basically see and do things you can't find anywhere else in one place.
For the most part I think we do a decent job. Maybe we overstepped our boundaries on a few posts, or said some things that some important people didn't like ... I'll never know.
Regardless, I certainly won't apologize for it even if we did.
The one thing that really gets me -- and I'm serious about this -- is that with this decision Jon Fitch loses out on a few well deserved payments from UFCmania.com.
And because the decision was made so late he can't plug-in another sponsor.
Yep, the same guy who works in a bar when he's not training or fighting -- even though he says it's not really for the money (although, if he was making Chuck Liddell-type bread I doubt he'd still work nights at the Cardiff Lounge) -- had loot ripped right from his pocket by his primary employer.
It's important to note that Fitch was nothing but a professional when he broke the news to me. In fact, I think I took it a little harder than him -- he was the calm one in the conversation.
We talked briefly about how we might be able to help him out other than through a sponsorship. Those talks will resume after his fight with Roan Carneiro on Tuesday at the Seminole Hotel Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.
I don't want to make too much a deal out of this ... I'm not one to rock the boat. I also don't want to ever become a distraction for Fitch as he prepares to capture his sixth win inside the Octagon.
However, I do want to apologize to all the readers here at UFCmania.com. It was great to hear your feedback and have your support of the sponsorship -- many of you were just as excited as us.
This news, for lack of a better term, sucks.
Rest assured, if I ever get to the bottom of this I will share the news. For now, we'll use it as motivation to make this site even better and find other ways to contribute to the fighter community.
No regrets.