Advertisement

UFC's 'fight kit' reveal goes awry as Reebok misspells several fighter names

For the last week the UFC teased that fans would not want to miss Tuesday's official unveiling of the company's new UFC "Fighter Kits." They sent out emails and hit social media hard with each one of their champions campaigning for your attention.

Now, they might be hoping some of those emails went directly to spam.

Some of the UFC's biggest stars were on hand to give the fashion-week inspired event the extra push it needed. In fact, the only champion not on hand was UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo, who is back in Brazil nursing a rib injury that might keep him out of his UFC 189 title defense against Irish needle-mover Conor McGregor on July 11.

The look of the kit, themselves, is a stark departure from the billboard-esque fight shorts that athletes wore in year's past. Reebok even added an official "jersey" to go along with each fighter's choice of fight-night shorts – a jersey that will run you close to $100 if you'd like to purchase one.

The UFC and its fighters rely heavily on branding. All a fighter has is his or her name (perhaps a catchy nickname like "Pitbull" or "Spider") and likeness to earn extra cash.

In fact, with the new Reebok partnership, how much any given fighter could earn depends on how much gear they sell (along with their tenure in the company).

But when the sponsor misspells your name on merchandise on the day it's officially unveiled, well, you can understand that more than a few people could get upset.

Especially when we're talking about stars like "Giblert Melendez," "Marcio" Lyoto Machida and UFC hall of famer Mark Hughes."

Some fighters even got the parental treatment when their full names were printed on their jerseys.

Reebok, for its part, actually responded to Lawlor's claims via social media.

Although, one can assume given his simple reply, "Filthy Thomas" is still more than a little upset.

These are just some of the hiccups from Reebok. Other errors include a lack of accents on a majority of fighter's names and apparent mix-ups with fighter nationality.

Given that Reebok had ample time to ensure that this very public rollout went smoothly, these errors – and an apparent lack of attention to detail – are only going to stoke the proverbial flame of critics everywhere.

(Here is a complete list of mistakes, courtesy of reddit user CaptainSasquatch.)

Popular MMA video on Yahoo Sports: