Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone is one of three fighters to be the first to receive a fine from the UFC for violating the Reebok outfit policy.
Tracey Bleczinski, the UFC Senior Vice President of Global Consumer Products, spoke with MMAJunkie.com about the policy and the first-ever violations without actually naming the fighters.
“We have had over 99 percent compliance with the Athlete Outfitting Policy. This week will be the first time that we will be issuing reduction in payments for non-compliance with the policy,” said Bleczinski.
“A warning is issued when an athlete is non-compliant but agrees and takes steps to correct the infraction. There is ample opportunity for an athlete to correct an infraction,” she said. “A payment reduction is enacted when an athlete knowingly and seriously violates the policy after receiving an opportunity to correct it.”
Of the three guilty of violating the policy, “Cowboy” Cerrone is the only one thus far to voluntarily speak out about the issue, confirming himself as one of the three via social media. Cerrone responded to a fan who asked him about the subject and confirmed the news by simply writing, “I sure did.”
Cerrone had a patch from his old Muay Thai shorts sewn into the shorts he wore for his UFC On FOX 17 title fight with UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael dos Anjos last month.
While it is only speculation at this point, it’s worth noting that Nate Diaz weighed in wearing his jeans and Rafael dos Anjos wore a non-Reebok sponsored shirt for the weigh-ins for their fights at the aforementioned UFC On FOX 17 event.
