Long time Cut man 'Stitch' Allegedly fired for Reebok Comments

[hammercurl]

Just my opinion, but in the sense that he called out Dana's lack of maturity. He gets off on replying with smart-a** tweets to fans. IMO, he should just ignore them and block the people that tweet negative stuff. I know how Dana is though, and he could have been worse.

i agree, Dana is pretty embarressing on twitter, he's a grown ass man acting like a teen.

also makes me laugh when he replies "good" to people who say they wont spend a cent on ufc anymore, one guy might not make a differencen but they are starting to add up

[cheerupemokid]

how so? he told a multi millonaire to get a life? and that wasnt really an insult towards the kid. if you know dana he could have replied with something worse

He's a multi millionaire getting into Twitter fights with kids. That alone makes him look pathetic.

[jimbob007]

i agree, Dana is pretty embarressing on twitter, he's a grown ass man acting like a teen.

also makes me laugh when he replies "good" to people who say they wont spend a cent on ufc anymore, one guy might not make a differencen but they are starting to add up

Because the knows full well the people saying that are diehards who will support it no matter what. People have spent the last 15 odd years whining about the WWE & how thye will never buy another PPV, watch Raw or Smackdown, go to an arena show etc-yet they are back a week or month later moaning about it all over again & saying the same stuff. Dana cares about the casual fans, not the hardcores who will be there no matter what.

[Groce]

holy chit at the comments though, that's some deep chit talking about his mother

[PepperedAngus]

Damn Dana is such a glorious winged *******. Hes on another level when it comes to pure *******ry.

[wake_me]

Because the knows full well the people saying that are diehards who will support it no matter what. People have spent the last 15 odd years whining about the WWE & how thye will never buy another PPV, watch Raw or Smackdown, go to an arena show etc-yet they are back a week or month later moaning about it all over again & saying the same stuff. Dana cares about the casual fans, not the hardcores who will be there no matter what.

I cancelled fightpass over how it was handled with the changing of ufc's cable partners here in Canada as well as the lack of effort to release a playstation app. Dana may 'know' die hards will suppport it. However presuming it wont impact your bottom line and openly sh*tting on the fanbase who kept ufc afloat during the dark days of ppv blackouts and fighting on indian land just further demonstrates his lack of character

[1sttimecaller]

Now Connor is refusing to wear the Reebok gear and is punking Dana out in front of everyone: http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2015/7/25...ear-reebok-kit

[MinisterOfLust]

Now Connor is refusing to wear the Reebok gear and is punking Dana out in front of everyone: http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2015/7/25...ear-reebok-kit

Dana will do what his master Connor tells him to do.

[wake_me]

Dana will do what his master Connor tells him to do.

Until he stops helping finance Dana's gambling addiction. Then Dana will throw him under the bus.

[PuristBrah]

Until he stops helping finance Dana's gambling addiction. Then Dana will throw him under the bus.

So much this. Dana is best friends with anyone who can make him money. How he treated GSP after his last fight was disgusting and Dana's true character was shown.

[Groce]

So much this. Dana is best friends with anyone who can make him money. How he treated GSP after his last fight was disgusting and Dana's true character was shown.

yep, that post fight press conference really opened my eyes to what a scumbag dana is, up to then I always liked dana and defended him as this cool edgy president of the ufc, he's only gotten worse and worse since then, guy is don king 2.0

[scooterbrah]

guy is don king 2.0

[skinnytobulk]

Doesn't dana just take orders from the guys on top?

[MinisterOfLust]

Doesn't dana just take orders from the guys on top?

Who's on top? Those guys are busy running casinos in Vegas

[Groce]

Doesn't dana just take orders from the guys on top?

dana owns 10% of the ufc, is the spokesman and president he has a very very heavy say on what happens in the ufc aside from owning a large chunk of the org

[skinnytobulk]

Who's on top? Those guys are busy running casinos in Vegas

Ye those ones, i thought they'd be the ones making decisions, while dana takes the heat, since he's the president and spokesperson. They act professional in front of cameras, but run behind the scenes.

[MinisterOfLust]

Ye those ones, i thought they'd be the ones making decisions, while dana takes the heat, since he's the president and spokesperson. They act professional in front of cameras, but run behind the scenes.

I believe Dana virtually make all the decisions and the Fertitta brothers just collect the money. By the way, have you ever seen Lorenzo smile? That dude is weird.

[yummy22]

[ItWasThePlan]

ever since stitch got fired all of UFC's new released videos have been getting ALOT of dislikes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHnTCULMOvQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djX6DM5N-wY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV4nVyZn470

lets see if this carries on...

Lol i dont get it, do people want to see the fights or not ?
why do people give a **** if the cutman gets dropped from the UFC.
like dana said hes not friends with stitch, never was, and its not his job to comfort him.
I hate dana as much as the next MMA section member, but only for reasons like his sucking conors dick over the long time champ aldo. and letting aldo be harassed on tour the entire time. U can bet ur ass if aldo took a swing at conor dana would be the first person to sue his ass.

[scooterbrah]

Update - UFC exec: Stitch's Reebok 'comments had nothing to do' with firing
http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2015/8/19...do-with-firing

By Zane Simon

@TheZaneSimon on Aug 19, 2015, 5:30p 77
Ethan Miller/Getty Images

It looks like the UFC is looking to change the narrative on Stitch Duran's recent firing as Lawrence Epstein recently made it clear that Duran's Reebok comments had nothing to do with it.
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Well, this is awkward. Weeks after noted cutman Stitch Duran was fired from his position with the UFC (shortly after speaking to Bloody Elbow about losses incurred by him and others in his field under the UFC's new Reebok deal), UFC exec Lawrence Epstein is now issuing a full denial as to just why Duran was let go from the company.

Shortly after his firing, Duran told Bloody Elbow explicitly that the UFC had made it clear to him that his dismissal was directly tied to his negative comments about Reebok. "I got a call and basically was told that they - and they didn't throw names out - but they don't want you to work any more UFC shows based on the article regarding the Reebok deal."

And since those comments were made, that's been more or less the official story on it. UFC commentator Joe Rogan reiterated the story on a recent episode of his podcast: "So, anytime someone like Stitch gets fired because he said something about, 'Hey, this deal kinda sucks for me because I'm not making as much money,' they fire him."

Dana White didn't contradict that narrative when asked why he didn't personally handle Duran's dismissal, instead claiming that if he and Duran had been real friends, Duran would have come to him with his complaints, rather than airing them publicly.

Even Reebok representative Michael Lunardelli didn't offer any contradictions to the idea that Duran was fired over his comments about the sponsorship deal, when asked about the situation on the MMA Hour:

"I actually talked to Stitch before anyone in my own organization....I did. I just called him man to man. I got his phone number and dialed him up myself. I was on the road and just said, 'I'm going to call him and talk to him, see what's going on'. We had a great talk. We talked for about 40 minutes or so. It was man to man, just between him and I. It was a good discussion. It was great, I wish none of this happened, but it did and again, it's not something that's in our control.

"I had a very brief conversation with [UFC President] Dana [White]. Dana was great about it as he always is. He's like, 'That's not for you guys to worry about. That's between us. You guys shouldn't be taking any heat for that. Basically, that's our situation with our cutman. We're handling that'. That's basically what he said. That was it. You gotta find your place here. There's a place where you can speak up about things, and there's a place where you can't. We're focused on what our job is."

All of which makes Lawrence Epstein's recent comments about Duran's firing to the International Business Times seem like an especially dramatic shift from a story that had been pretty well accepted and spoken to by all parties involved:

"Unequivocally, his comments had nothing to do with him getting let go. I can't be more firm on that. There are a variety of reasons that he was let go, but nothing to do with his comments on Reebok," Epstein said. "He's trying to paint this thing as, he said some stuff about Reebok and as a result, he was let go. It's just not true. That's not the reason why he was let go. I can't be more clear on that."

Epstein's comments came as part of a larger story on the influence of sponsorship money in low paying sports, a landscape where the UFC is currently front and center alongside USA men's track and field.

With the general narrative on Duran as well established as it seemingly had been, Epstein may find himself having to be a lot more clear as to just why Duran was let go if he wants to downplay criticism of the UFC's partnership with Reebok. Especially since right now he seems to be the only one taking this stance. Bloody Elbow has reached out to the UFC for elaboration on his comments, but has yet to hear back at the time of publishing.

UPDATE: The UFC has responded to Bloody Elbow's request for clarification on Epstein's comments with the following statement:

"Jacob ‘Stitch' Duran has not been banned from UFC and he is free to corner any athlete if they choose to pay for his services. We want to provide other cutmen the opportunity to work UFC events. UFC certainly respects Duran's experience and accomplishments as a cutman, and wishes him the best. We will not comment about the other reasons that lead to the ending of his independent contractor agreement with UFC, other than to say it had nothing to do with his comments about Reebok."

cliffs: the ufc still thinks all of us are complete morons

[StevieY]

cliffs: the ufc still thinks all of us are complete morons

Lmao. The ufc does not give a **** what you think or how you feel or anything else about you. All they care is that they hit their budgeted profit.

And that is no different than the nfl, nba, or any other business. Why do people have a such a hard time understanding that?

[sword_]

#neverforgetstitch

[scooterbrah]

Lmao. The ufc does not give a **** what you think or how you feel or anything else about you. All they care is that they hit their budgeted profit.

And that is no different than the nfl, nba, or any other business. Why do people have a such a hard time understanding that?

im aware that they dont care what i think. but to sit there and say that stitch wasnt fired because of his reebok comments a month after dana more or less confirmed it was for said comments via what was said to the reebok guy clearly shows that they have no respect for anyone in their audience.

brb lets fire the best cutman in the sports history because we want to give others a chance brb. makes sense.

[AirJordanB]

im aware that they dont care what i think. but to sit there and say that stitch wasnt fired because of his reebok comments a month after dana more or less confirmed it was for said comments via what was said to the reebok guy clearly shows that they have no respect for anyone in their audience.

brb lets fire the best cutman in the sports history because we want to give others a chance brb. makes sense.

Dude, Dana didn't say Stitch was fired for speaking out against the Reebok deal. He also didn't say:

-Aldo had a broken rib
-GSP owed it to the UFC to fight again
-GSP should "be a man" and answer Dana's calls
-Rumble was terrorized by his ex, even though he was sentenced for domestic abuse
-UFC 189 did over 1 million buys

He's just being misquoted.

[TheJizzler]

Now Connor is refusing to wear the Reebok gear and is punking Dana out in front of everyone: http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2015/7/25...ear-reebok-kit

I wonder who will be the first reigning champ to jump ship to another org

Aside from Aldo, obviously

[PuristBrah]

im aware that they dont care what i think. but to sit there and say that stitch wasnt fired because of his reebok comments a month after dana more or less confirmed it was for said comments via what was said to the reebok guy clearly shows that they have no respect for anyone in their audience.

brb lets fire the best cutman in the sports history because we want to give others a chance brb. makes sense.

I'm not talking about Stitch Duran anymore, because the despicable, I don't even know what to call them that work in this business that own some of these websites, it's one of these things where basically they lie about what I said. Not what I said and then turn it around and then by the time it gets translated into text verbatim to what I said it's even worse. It makes me sick and I'm not say anything about Stitch Duran.

[scooterbrah]

Jacob Stitch Duran
********@StitchDuran

@TBarrabi Great story!Can't believe UFC attorney Lawrence Epstein said I was not let go because of my interview of the Reebok deal. Bull****
https://twitter.com/StitchDuran/stat...59154777227264

Dude, Dana didn't say Stitch was fired for speaking out against the Reebok deal. He also didn't say:

-Aldo had a broken rib
-GSP owed it to the UFC to fight again
-GSP should "be a man" and answer Dana's calls
-Rumble was terrorized by his ex, even though he was sentenced for domestic abuse
-UFC 189 did over 1 million buys

He's just being misquoted.

lol'd
You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to AirJordanB again.

I'm not talking about Stitch Duran anymore, because the despicable, I don't even know what to call them that work in this business that own some of these websites, it's one of these things where basically they lie about what I said. Not what I said and then turn it around and then by the time it gets translated into text verbatim to what I said it's even worse. It makes me sick and I'm not say anything about Stitch Duran.

you forgot this