This was the walk out shirt for Matt Serra when we sponsored his title defense against GSP (and lost) in UFC 83.
There was a lot of buzz this week about the UFC and their position on gun sponsorships after a writer on one of the gun blogs noticed that the GunsAmerica sponsorship was blurred out on the television. This “new” discovery was spun up to imply that the UFC, and even MMA fighters, were anti-gun.
Some of you may remember that starting in about 2008, GunsAmerica sponsored a bunch of MMA fighters in the UFC and some of the minor fighting organizations, most of which have been bought up by the UFC over the years.
We also had former UFC Welter Weight Champion Matt Serra at our NRA booth one year, and UFC Heavyweight contender Shane Carwin was the star of our SHOT Show booth back in 2011.
Over the years we sponsored dozens of fighters, and in generally we found that the UFC was very gun friendly. Hornady, Leupold, and of course fans will recognize The Gun Store, a Las Vegas shooting range, all sponsored UFC fighters over those years. It was a lot of fun for those of us who are fans of the sport, and I can say that here at GunsAmerica, we had hundreds of requests to sponsor fighters.
We sponsored Martin Kampman a couple times. He hasn’t been around for a while now.
Then in January of 2012, that all changed. We were sponsoring Shane Carwin at that time, and we were told by his management that we could no longer sponsor any UFC fighters because Fox had made a deal with the UFC, and because of international restrictions on the advertisement of firearms, all gun sponsors would be removed from the fights from that point forward.
Dana White apologized to those of us who had been fans and sponsors, and explained that it was really out of his hands. Dana is a gun guy, and business is business.
It is irresponsible reporting to say that the UFC and/or UFC fighters are anti-gun. We paid Shane Carwin for this sponsorship WITH GUNS! Notice that Las Vegas machinegun range The Gun Store is also on the shorts. Shane is actually an engineer, so he moved on from fighting to a more stable but significantly less glamorous living. It is absolutely absurd to say that the UFC is just a crude blood sport. It is more real that 99% of what is on TV today.
I think this is more a commentary on the how lame the internet is in vetting information, and publishing it as first run, but I won’t get into that.
I also won’t get into the cabal owned Fox News and what they have done to the true conservatives who could have contributed positively to this country had they not been led down the Sean Hannity Patriot road.
All I can say is Anderson Silva looked unbeatable at one point. I hope the cabal meets the same fate.
I’m not trying to start an argument. I just want to know what the author is talking about when he stated that Fox News could have contributed to the conservatives in this country had they not been led down the Sean Hannity patriot road? Does anyone have any clue what he is referring to? I used to watch Fox News daily, but have not done so for a few years now.
It is very doable to filter these images on the receive side, as opposed to the transmit side, of the signal. If you are in country X, and they cannot view this material, it can be filtered at the receiver or at any ground level distribution point. Meanwhile, this is the United States, and we are supposed to have this thing called The Bill Of Rights. The ACLU will defend the Nazi party’s freedom of speech, but gun rights advocates are out in the cold, AGAIN. If you don’t like it, don’t watch FOX. When enough of us do that, they WILL change this policy.
Rollin L. and Caveman Ed, I couldn’t agree with you more. If it weren’t for Fox News those of us with conservative beliefs would not have any News Channel that shared most of our views. Caveman Ed, change your name to Informed Conservative.
you are spot on!
Back TRUMP and make us great again.
Wow – blasting Fox News? So where would that leave us for any real information? I hope the folks who don’t think Fox is conservative enough will start their own legit news broadcast – and hopefully not one that thinks Trump is a conservative.
Many people forget that 20% of FOX is owned by an arab which says quite a bit about why their reporting is so lame. Also Bill o’RINO has the power to decide what and who will be on FOX.
I absolutely love this country, but it’s going to shit (pardon my French). People are so afraid of guns because of these mass shootings, and these liberals who keep pishing gun control are only making it worse. People keep saying we need less guns and more “gun free zones.” Well let’s see columbine is a gun free zone, sandy hook is a gun free zone, that theater in aurora is a gun free zone. You know there are a lot of gun free zones that have criminals that bring guns in. Now that’s a complex thought. How can criminals who break the law being firearms into weapon free buildings when that act would be illegal? And yet gun stores and police stations are the safest place to be. This is so perplexing. It’s almost like places that have guns are safer than places without them, and yet people keep pushing to create more gun free zones.
Fox news is not the anti gun entity but Fox which includes multiple channels, and many other sports. If you want to fight back then unplug, no cable or satellite, take charge of where your money goes. Plus while you’re at it call your Senator’s and Representative and tell them that we want Ala Carte Programming just like in Canada.
God Bless the USA!
Brian – EXACTLY !! Thank you !!
First, this involves FOX, not just FOX news, so you might as well be swearing off NASCAR, baseball, UFC, the Simpsons and your local FOX affiliate. In other words, you are aiming at the wrong target, assuming FOX is in the wrong at all. Dana White apparently said it was due to an international advertising restriction. If that is the case we should see first hand admission by Dana, and not heresay. Shane Carwin must have received written notice when his gun sponsorship was forced to end. UFC is a billion dollar business. Surely it can put out a statement that spells out the reason gun sponsors are now prohibited.
Anyone who does not see this for what it is should review their own naivety – This is the U.N. (as in UNITED NATIONS) or was I the only one who has watched the “international arms treaty” slowly and methodically shoved up our asses ? So from my seat, ANYONE WHO QUIETLY ALLOWS THIS TO HAPPEN AND MAKES EXCUSES FOR ANY ORGANIZATION, COMPANY, POLITICIAN, PERSON OR ENTITY may as well turn in you firearms now – “excuses” are just than – I’ve turned my back on the money worshipers my entire life, so I’m not “rich” now …. My health and integrity matter more and I’m just fine having not been greedy enough to sell my soul …. “YOU” do what you decide is best for “you and yours” …….
So, once again the media is able to use thier money to push thier own agenda! Faux news is anti-gun and has a inherent fear of weapons! The UFC is now a sell out for money!
“A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity”
Sigmund Freud
Jay – THAT is the most ignorant rant I’ve seen OR heard
Anyone who boycotts Fox over this is the equivalent of not voting for Mitt Romney because he wasn’t Conservative enough or Christian enough. It amounted to a vote for Obama. Were it not for Fox News the liberal agenda (including the anti-gun component) would have already been fully implemented. As to Hanity, he’s pro gun, FWIW.
Since their new deal with NIKE I think, now they don’t allow any outside endorsements on the fighters apparel. It’s all generic same look crap. Hell next they will be stopping the fights if somebody starts bleeding…
WHEN is Nike going to go “anti gun” I wonder ? Or are they already ??
I dug into the article a little, and there are a few things a little misleading.
The title of the article indicates that the UFC is anti-gun because they are blurring out or removing any and all gun related fight sponsorships. But upon reading the article, the reason all the sponsorships are removed is to comply with international law since Fox broadcasts overseas, as well. If the sponsorships remained, they would have to be manually blurred (if that’s allowed as a policy) or they would have to limit the broadcasts to domestic markets only. Since MMA is huge in South America and growing in Europe, UFC and Fox really doesn’t have much of a choice if they wish to remain competitive.
I guess I see it like this. It’s not a matter of philosophy or Constitutional policy. It’s a matter of business. Other nations’ laws prohibit this type of advertisement. If a company wants to do business in another country, they have to follow the other country’s rules. If it’s profitable, then why not?
Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes it just rains. This, to me, isn’t a loss for gun owners and a win for anti-gunners. This is something completely different.
I don’t really see this as a Fox issue, either. I’m not their biggest fan, but they’re an international company, and, again, they have to follow the laws where they operate. As Americans, we want people to respect our laws. I guess it’s not too much to ask us to do the same?
That is the point of the article. It was made into a manufactured talking point without proper research as to why they were blurring the GunsAmerica sponsorship.
Maybe so but if we all don’t make use of the forums we have at our fingertips to get the underlying message out then when and where will it come from and by who ? However you color it, this is “international politics” affecting small business in AMERICA (Not the MMA and UFC but the fighters singularly – So now a few fighters have lost their advertising sponsorships ? What if those same fighters cannot anchor other sponsors ? Are they done fighting ? If so, then and “anti’s” have secured one more victory
Ah, okay . . .
Just because folks in another country pass a law about gun manufacturing advertising doesn’t mean it needs a blurred broadcast here in the states. Rupert Murddock is a big Hillary supporter, globalist and anti-gun for the peasantry guy. Fox news pretends to be conservative in order to appear to balance the news. They are neither conservative or balanced. Wake up, America.
FOX may be an “International Company” but we are talking about what is going on in “AMERICA” and it would appear that FOX (and a whole lot of other organizations AND PERSONS cannot seem to comprehend the difference) “IF” FOX does not have the wherewithal to breakout advertising for AMERICANS then they do not deserve MY business or patronage
I don’t know why Fox is so chickenshit about Guns! But now that I know how they are I will boycott them… I will not watch Fox anything, and furthermore I will notify their Sponsor’s on a weekly basis, informing them that as long as they continue to support Fox with their money, they will get No business from myself, nor anyone else that I am able to convince…
I don’t know why Fox is so chickenshit about Guns! But now that I know how they are I will boycott them… I will not watch Fox anything, and furthermore I will notify their Sponsor’s on a weekly basis, informing them that as long as they continue to support Fox with their money, they will get No business from myself, nor anyone else that I am able to convince…
While I support anyone for stopping watching television, Fox isn’t the problem here.
OK praharin, then tell all of us “who” is the problem ?? IMO … FOX has enough clout to make a difference if they wanted to – I’m going to ask Lars Larson what he thinks about it today but until then I’m taking a stand against ANY organization OR person who aids and abets the globalization of “NAZIism” (and make no mistake, that is exactly what this is)
Really, Fox News is no better than CNN, MSNBC and the rest of the libtard channels.
Exactly right, they are all purveyors of misinformation. Oh BTW Hellishly Rotten Clinton Prison 2016.
What are the “International Restrictions on firearms advertising”? What are the restrictions? Who put them in place. Sounds like some more Obama shit to me. I thought the press was still “Free”!
Here we go again. The author of this article, and apparently some of the readers here, continue to operate under the ignorant assumption that Fox News was created to be the unwavering voice of the conservative right. When they actually do what they have always said they were going to do- which is to cover news with both sides getting a fair shake- and don’t toe some specific political ideological line for those of us on the right, then all of a sudden they are some kind of traitors. I ask you all out here in gunsamericaland, do you really think we would be better off if there were no FNC and all we had were ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, and CNN for news on the tube? I hate to tell you this, but if FNC were so ideological in it’s presentation then it would not have half the audience it does. Some of you are in your own version of the insulated bubble that liberals live in so often. Wake up and get a clue. Fox News is not, and never has intended to be, our mouthpiece. But they give our side of things when no one else on TV will. If you think something like Newsmax TV is EVER going to have a decent fraction of the audience of Fox News, or if The Blaze is going to, you are delusional. Get over it. Be grateful we have FNC or we would be so far worse off than we are now you wouldn’t know which way is up.
We have all the libtard stations you mention, and now FNC is JUST LIKE THEM. We, the conservative RIGHT have no voice on T.V. You have to listen to RADIO to get a conservative message. The only decent voices on Fox are Judge Jeanine and Neil Cavuto on Fox Business. Pretty much the majority are left leaning, especially that arrogant pompous O’Reilly.
One America News OAN is a better alternative to FOX
OAN is very good at calling out all the BS.
@Rollin L
Sometimes I get the “REDS” at FOX NEWS, but I have to agree with you! The only ones that do run down Fox, is MSNBC, NBC, CBS, ABC, and CNN, and they almost never give the conservative side a chance to speak. And, when they do, they gang up against the conservatives, i.e. chris matthews, et al.
Rollin L….totally agree with your post. The others on here who bash FNC have that God given right, just as you and I have ours. My question to those who are making their views personal (Matthew) Is it Fox Sports or Fox News that has changed their policy? If I am not mistaken, the Sports Division and News Division are two separate entities within the Fox Television brand, which is owned by the Wall Street Journal. Opinions are like assholes…everyone has one and they all stink. 🙂 Chill guys, no one is attacking you personally or physically.