Springtime brought a lot of change to businesses in Mixed Martial Arts, two in particular. One business, RYU, decided to get out of MMA. But was it ever really in MMA? Another business, Nike, is now into MMA. But is the company really into MMA?

Spring is confusing. Most of the time, everybody just wants to know this: Are you in, or out?

RYU
Respect Your Universe (RYU) came into MMA like Chael Sonnen before he faced Jon Jones in UFC 159 – all talk, bluster and bravado. Honestly, RYU wasn’t nearly as arrogant as Sonnen, but it did do a whole lot talking, mainly with its money. From November 2008 through June 2012, the company spent $12 million-plus working from a gross profit on $69,534. You can read the same numbers on its Form 10-Q submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. And I’m no accountant, but even I know that won’t work.

We’re not here to bash RYU; we were rooting for them from the beginning. The company, lead by executives who had worked at Nike and other well-known sports brands, had big plans and those could have helped grow MMA as a whole. But it was easy to see from the start that the company was spending a whole lot of money before it even had product available. When RYU announced this spring that it was officially withdrawing from the MMA industry, no one was really surprised. Bummed out, sure. But not surprised. If you’re gonna get in, you gotta get in. And RYU never really did.

Nike
Speaking of the Swoosh; Nike is now openly behind Jon Jones. On April 19, Nike officially released the Nike Free Trainer 5.0 athletic shoe with “Bones” stitched on the tongue above the famous swoosh. And a week later when Jones finished Sonnen in UFC 159 (sorry Chael, not trying to pick on you here), Nike even ran a congratulatory picture of Jones on its website.

What you won’t find on the Nike.com site is any mention of “MMA.” The Bones Jones collection is under “Training.” Is that a sport? To be fair, nobody wears shoes in MMA, so Nike is not going to make an MMA shoe. But still, is it too much for the footwear giant to acknowledge “Mixed Martial Arts” somewhere? Nike is clearly interested or it wouldn’t have got behind Jones in the first place.

I had the same question for Under Armour when it initially supported Georges St-Pierre. At least Under Armour mentions GSP as an “MMA Champion,” but it goes no further than that. I have reached out to both Nike and Under Armour several times, with no response.

In or Out
So, big brands. Are you in or out of MMA? If you’re going to get in, get in. We’ll welcome you with open arms. Just do it.

Start Everywhere

Should gym owners start by cleaning their mats, their equipment, or their non-training areas? “Yes, and more,” was the common theme answer to such a question. You can’t separate the cleaning of mats and equipment from the cleaning of the people who use them. It’s a closed system and the gym manager controls the inputs.

“It is vitally important for a gym to not only have clean mats, but to have a totally clean mentality throughout their gym,” said Jimmy Pedro, vice president of Zebra and owner of Pedro’s Judo Center in Massachusetts. “This means that all areas of the gym must be clean, including the mats, entry ways, bathrooms, etc. Trainers must teach their students clean personal hygiene habits, as well. Far too often, I have seen very clean gyms become overrun with skin infections due to inconsiderate students who don’t care for their own hygiene and don’t care about other members.”

Start with what you can control directly. Clean your mats daily to prevent the spread of communicable bacteria, viruses and fungi, and diseases like impetigo, ringworm, MRSA and herpes. “Most gym owners neglect to clean as often as needed,” said Chuck Jefferson, director of sales and marketing for Dollamur. “They need to disinfect the mats daily, at least, and more often depending on the number of students training.”

Pedro points to a gym’s gear, as well. “Many trainers don’t disinfect their gear regularly; it builds up bacteria and ends up smelling and causing a hazardous condition.”

Guy Sako of Defense Soap has partnerships with fighters and gym owners, including Ben Rothwell, UFC heavyweight and Wisconsin gym owner. “It’s good for gym owners to partner with a hygiene company, we can learn from each other and solve problems,” said Sako. “Ben Rothwell uses our foot cleaners in his gym in Kenosha, Wisc.”

Make It Personal

People can’t use just any product to clean themselves, advises Garrett Olgin, co-founder of Athletic Body Care. “Unless prescribed or recommended by a doctor,” said Olgin, “stay away from products that use strong oils and drying agents that take off all the natural oils on the skin. The oils on your skin protect your body from infections such as Staph, MRSA, impetigo and much more.”

Olgin also reminds people how to wash. “Most soap products need up to 10 minutes on the skin to become effective. People that lather under the water stream are not killing the germs, they are only washing the dirt and oils off the skin. Lather your body, and let the soap sit on your skin to activate properly. The same goes for washing your hair.”

“The biggest thing that people miss,” said Sako, “is that your body is protected with flora; it naturally protects you. If that gets damaged, you are susceptible. Fights and such do damage to the skin, but antibacterial soaps do damage too. They deplete the natural skin flora; this is natural bacteria on skin and it can protect you. And when you deplete it, you remove your skin’s ability to fight off infection. Unless you’re filthy, don’t shower before you train.”

You’re Neglecting Something

Trainers and gym managers need procedures that reinforce clean habits. “Make sure there is something between the bathroom and the mat, and reinforce the standards of personal hygiene,” Bunge said. “The more you teach students to wash, wipe down, shower, change clothes, the more you protect yourself and your gym,” said Bunge. “Respect the sport, protect yourself and others.”

Pedro agrees, and said, “Demand that clients are clean and courteous to each other. They must wash and disinfect their gear regularly, shower immediately after practice, cut finger nail and toe nails regularly, and don’t train if they have any fungal infections.”

The big question, Dollamur’s Jefferson said, is if gyms with wrestling programs should allow shoes on mats. “In short, it’s not recommended,” he said. “Wrestling has long had a huge problem with herpes, impetigo, MRSA and more. They wear their shoes on the mat, then into bathroom. Wherever the shoes go, someone’s face goes. That’s scary.”

Directory

Athletic Body Care

“The Number 1 reason for infection or fungal contraction is because people wait until after they train or compete to protect their body,” said Garrett Olgin, co-founder of Athletic Body Care. “Many products are designed to use in the shower or before and after exercise. You do not catch infection before or after you are training. Make sure that you use products that protect your skin during activity. Prevention before infection is the key to staying active.”

• Foaming Skin Sanitizer
• Power Body Wash
• Daily Defense Lotion
• Antifungal Treatment
• Dispenser and Refill
• Bodyguard

Defense Soap

“The first thing you want to do is find a soap that doesn’t deplete your skin’s natural flora. You need an antibacterial, antifungal and anti-viral soap. Defense has created a soap that fights all of them. This product applies well in the MMA world because of the trauma we expose skin to; you are at higher risk because of this trauma,” said Guy Sako.For your hair, keep it short and just use the soap. For girls or those with longer hair, dandruff shampoo kills fungus in hair. All dandruff shampoos have antifungal in them.”

• Defense Soap Bars
• Defense Soap Shower Gel
• Defense Body Wipes
• Defense Kits
• Defense Healing Salve
• Defense Pure Essential Oil
• Defense Barrier Foam
• Defense Equipment Spray
• Foot Cleaning Station
• Sole Cleaner

Dollamur

“The microfiber mops are important to pull the dirt and grime up,” said Dollamur’s Chuck Jefferson. “Do a dry mop first to get all the hair and dust off before you do the disinfecting solution. Ultimately you want to be disinfecting every day to get everything. If there are classes where they have shoes on, you should mop before and after each class. Our disinfecting solution tells you how long you need to kill each bacteria. If it dries within a minute, you didn’t use enough. Needs to look wet or damp for at least 10 minutes. Disinfect daily, then deep clean monthly to avoid build up.”

• Mat Cleaner
• Dollamur Mat Mop, Pads
• Dollamur Mop Kit

Kennedy Industries

• KS Skin Cream
• Kenshield Athletic Laundry Sanitizer
• Sport Hair & Body Antibacterial Cleanser
• Cleaning Wipes
• Kenclean Plus Athletic Surface Disinfectant Cleaner
• Deep Clean System
• Mopping Systems
• The Sole Mat
• Spray-n-Roll Sprayer
• Odor Magic & Stain Digester
• Kennedy Instant Hand Sanitizer and Dispenser
• Scrubbing Machines

Matguard U.S.A.

“To make sure students are protected,” said Tom Bunge, president of Matguard, “they need to use an FDA-approved product, like our body wipes or body spray. The FDA is very specific about what will kill bacteria. There are only certain things that will kill, like products with a high-alcohol level. We have 70-percent alcohol in all our products. You can use them over and over and not dry your skin. It’s a patented product. And for mats and equipment, you can’t use an everyday cleaner. We recommend a hospital-grade disinfectant. Clean bags from top to bottom, clean all head gear, weight-training equipment. Take cleaning to another level. Your business and reputation are at stake, and it can take a long time to rebound from the perception that your business is not clean.”

• Athletic Equipment and Surface Spray
• Disinfectant Equipment and Surface Wipes
• Blood Spot and Body Fluid Cleaner, Wipes and Spray
• Helmet & Pad Disinfectant and Wipes
• Antiseptic Foam and Liquid Dispensers
• Antiseptic Body Wipes
• Body Cleanse

Zebra

“The absolute best product on the market for deep cleaning mats – especially tatami-textured mats – is the Zebra Gym Scrubber,” said Zebra VP Jimmy Pedro. “Although it is expensive, it is well worth the investment because it deep cleans the mats and can be used in other areas of the gym. It’s also important to get a cleaner that disinfects and kills all major bacterial infectious diseases; the Zebra Mat Cleaner does this. The Zebra Starter Cleaning Kit has everything needed to clean mats: Mat Mop, Gallon Cleaner, Mop Heads, Quart Cleaner, etc. And the Pro Gym Cleaning Kit is perfect for commercial gyms that absolutely need hassle-free cleaning solutions for their whole gym.”

• Mat Cleaner liquid – ready-to-use or concentrate
• Micro-Fiber Mat Mop
• Gym Scrubber
• Cleaning Kits, Pro and Starter kits
• Mat Vacuum and Bags
• Air Mover

2012 Award of Excellence Winner as Executive of the Year: Bjorn Rebney, Bellator MMA

Bellator MMA’s insistence on its tournament format helps distinguish the fight league from all others, including the much-larger UFC. The fact that this was the creation of founder Bjorn Rebney is often overlooked.

While Bellator is still dwarfed by UFC, founder Rebney and his tournament structure gained a powerful partner when Viacom purchased Bellator in late 2011, putting the promotion’s events on Spike TV. Rebney has created a soon-to-debut reality TV property for Bellator, and signed Randy Couture and Greg Jackson as coaches and hosts. With two of the biggest names on his side, Bellator has ensured that even UFC die-hards will tune in the for the premier episode.

Rebney has created a regular schedule of compelling fights in unique arenas nationwide, plus a new TV program including huge names in MMA. Both are sure to entice UFC fans that the sport has more to offer than pay-per-view programming. By building a fight league that focuses on the fighting and the performances of the athletes, Rebney has kept the attention on the sport and not on himself or on Bellator’s marketing. In an ironic twist, he deserves recognition for that. That’s why MMA Business calls him the Executive of the Year.

Finalist: John Lennon, Xyience

John Lennon took the helm at Xyience in 2010, and has greatly increased the product’s distribution while also keeping a focus on the brand image – too many company’s build one and lose sight of the other. A beverage-industry veteran, Lennon is to be congratulated for continuing to imagine the best for this once-troubled company.

Finalist Paul Reavlin, Revgear

Paul Reavlin created Revgear in 1996 from a love of martial arts and a need for superior products. His continued attention to both of those things has helped him build Revgear into a manufacturing, distribution and service company that strives to make a difference throughout the martial arts industry. Reavlin remains more closely connected to martial arts than almost any executive we know.

2012 Award of Excellence Winner for Business Services: Member Solutions

Several companies provide business services to gym owners and trainers in the MMA industry. This award recognizes the service provider that delivers service as good as the best MMA training available, yet it won’t win a title belt, or even a smile from a well-served gym member.

In its Mission Statement, Member Solutions says its goal is to make other organizations – its clients – more successful. We’ve seen the company at work, and we’ve talked to many Member Solutions customers, and the company lives by that Mission Statement – it didn’t just write it to fill “About Us” space. The Pennsylvania-based service company provides its customers with technology-leading services, and it regularly delivers business-building information to customers through active blogging, webinars and an annual Bootcamp that is a professional-development powerhouse. Leading by example, Member Solutions delivers award-winning service to its clients, so these businesses can provide the best service possible to theirs.

Finalist: MindBody

MindBody brought its service-providing expertise from broader health-and-wellness industries to serve martial arts professionals, and the innovative company has opened eyes in the process. The company has also earned recognition for LEED Gold certification and as an outstanding employer.

Finalist: ASF International

With 40 years of experience providing services to fitness industry professionals, ASF International is one of the longest-running providers, but the Colorado company is far from old-fashioned. It continues to earn high marks from clients for both customer service and technology.

2012 Award of Excellence Winner for Event Marketing: MMA World Expo

Creating successful and enduring MMA events has been an industry challenge, even for the UFC. Doing it in New York City, in a state that doesn’t even allow professional MMA fighting, is a bigger challenge still. Paul Paone, creator of the MMA World Expo, has built an event that serves a variety of interests in the martial arts community and industry. The recently held event, rescheduled due to SuperStorm Sandy, included a variety of competitive events, plus training seminars lead by the industry’s leading coaches, as well as many companies showcasing products and services to East Coast fans and industry professionals.

In its four years running, the MMA World Expo has hosted business seminars, open-mat Jiu-Jitsu competitions and panel discussions that have included leading combat-industry personnel, including Melvina Lathan, Chairperson of the New York State Athletic Commission. The MMA World Expo is an event that does more for New York’s legally challenged MMA community than any other organization. Is the event perfect? No, but it’s working hard in a tough environment, like a lot of good fighters we know.

Finalist: Member Solutions

As a B2B service provider, Member Solutions should perhaps not be in the “event” business. But it is. The company’s annual Business Bootcamp is an outstanding event that extends its service offering to clients in way that delivers a weekend full of learning from and networking with leading industry professionals. And it lacks the sales pressure that comes with other such events.

Finalist: Fight Summit

More people have talked about Fight Summit over three years than have actually attended – far more people. Nearly all the attendees left with business-boosting wisdom that will serve them well. Many industry professionals didn’t “get” Fight Summit, but that doesn’t detract from the importance and powerful execution of the event itself.

2012 Award of Excellence Winner as Emerging Enterprise: UFC Gyms

The UFC itself has built an incredible entertainment and media empire, but the growth in MMA will be better sustained by participants, not just spectators. The UFC Gyms are emerging to build that MMA enthusiast base of support. The company first built five massive fitness centers in the west – four in California and one in Hawaii – with a “Train Different” theme that merged traditional fitness programming with the creativity and dynamics of Mixed Martial Arts. The training and service presented to a growing list of members rivals that of any training center – this is not just well-timed fitness promotion.

Now it’s expanding to New York and Australia with similar 40,000-square foot UFC Gyms. And its recent acquisition of the LA Boxing, with 81 existing franchise locations and more in the works, will spread the UFC Gym’s MMA-inspired fitness lifestyle much more quickly.

The UFC Gyms are emerging to do more than just take advantage of MMA’s rapid growth and business potential. This creative and well-run enterprise is helping propel that growth and potential.

Finalist: Cage Fitness

We continue to believe that the real growth of MMA will come via the merger of Mixed Martial Arts-style training with the world of general fitness. Cage Fitness is leading the way in that merger. By creating an effective programming system along with a great workout, Cage Fitness is winning over MMA trainers and others as a viable business builder.

Finalist: Gameness Fightwear

Known first for high-quality Gis, Gameness is building a diverse product line that appeals to Jiu-Jitsu athletes and MMA practitioners. And by remaining focused on superior products and strong service – not marketing imagery and promotional gimmicks – Gameness is positioning itself as a serious competitor in an increasingly crowded field.

2012 Award of Excellence Winner for Product Innovation: Hayabusa

Creative and effective training has been a big part of this industry’s growth, but good products are always behind that training. Increased product demand has caused a flood of average products – sparring gloves, fight shorts, training pads and more – to fill retail pipelines from eBay to sporting goods chain stores. The MMA Business Product Innovation award recognizes the company that has created products apart from the crowd, products that better serve MMA enthusiasts, and that help raise the industry’s standards.

Hayabusa is that company, and the Tokushu line of gloves and gear – introduced in 2012 – are among those products. To develop the Tokushu line, Hayabusa spent a lot of time and money testing the science behind combat training. The result is a line of gloves, pads and headgear created with the same ingenuity and dedication to superiority seen in champion fighters.

Finalist: TRX Training

Randy Hetrick was a Navy Seal and Jiu-Jitsu athlete looking for a better way to train. Starting with a Jiu-Jitsu belt, he devised the first suspension trainer, and built it into the TRX Training system. Now, dozens of companies market similar devices, but the TRX continues to lead with products for pros and amateur trainers.

Finalist: Fuji Sports

Fuji Sports proves that a company built on traditions can earn respect and credibility for innovation, too. The company delivered several new products in 2012, including a Gi made for women by women, the sales of which help raise funds for breast cancer research.

2012 Award of Excellence Winner for Branding: Zebra Mats

Defining a brand is one thing. Growing that brand is another completely. This award celebrates the company that has best defined and built its brand into a trusted and reputable MMA powerhouse, helping it and the entire industry grow.

Zebra Mats could have rested on its flooring and maintained its brand image as the leader in high-performance mats for martial arts professionals, but it didn’t. The company knew it could better serve owners of MMA and martial arts training centers by developing a complete outfitting service. In good branding style, this change and growth didn’t alter the Zebra brand; it enhanced it. Zebra has built a powerful service company while maintaining its true brand image – that of an industry leader committed to serving and supporting professional level training for all who desire the same.

Finalist: Xyience

In a brand-image turnaround of stellar proportions, Xyience is now one of the most-visible and most-respected brands in the MMA industry. The company has built its image around MMA athletes and training, and has taken that brand image into a wide variety of retail outlets nationwide. MMA Business applauds Xyience for proudly showcasing its support of MMA and building its brand all the while.

Finalist: Everlast

With 100 years in support of boxing and just a handful behind MMA training, Everlast may still be better known for sponsoring Muhammad Ali than for its support of Randy Couture and the Bellator series. That’s fine. What’s admirable is how Everlast took that century of strong branding and carried it successfully to MMA, while simply building on the character that makes the brand so strong to begin with.