got a reply back from an earlier message I sent to HTFU when Mike created the thread about Rick getting ripped off, asked them if I could post it here, they said yes:
"Jeff, we appreciate your inquiry. Let us say this regarding the incident: we respect MMA fighters and the sport. We would NEVER abandon or drop an athlete because they lost a fight or a sporting event. HTFU stands for Harden The F*** Up, it is what you do when you fail or lose...you keep working.
HTFU seeks to support and inspire athletes as they push themselves to train harder and achieve more.
HTFU was contacted by Rick's people 5 days before the fight asking about a sponsorship. On short notice HTFU put a lot of energy and expense into outfitting and promoting Rick Hawn as a brand and fighter leading up to the fight. There was a verbal agreement regarding what would be worn, when it would be worn, and who would wear it.
When HTFU didn't feel that the agreement was lived up to, we sent an email to Rick's representative explaining our disappointment and that a stop payment was placed on the check until an explanation was given. Things went down hill from there.
We have received a lot hate from people who assumed they knew the complete facts. Meanwhile, HTFU has not said anything negative about Rick at any point. We have reissued a cashiers check to Rick and wish him the best.
We look to put this issue behind us and get back to doing what we do best, inspiring and motivating athletes of all types to push themselves to levels they never knew they could go to.
They had been saying snce the beginning it was because Rick's corner was supposed to be wearing their clothes but didn't. Who knows who's telling the truth, but this goes to show...GET EVERTHING IN WRITING
He did mention performance issues in the message I saw about stopping the payment. In the initial statements nothing was even mentioned about the corner. Seems like the guy was a douche, got outed and is now trying to avoid the PR nightmare it became.
"I will not comment on Rick and his fight. That is not my place. But what I will tell you is this: I took a huge chance with him. TV exposure was great…but it only holds weight if he wins or puts on a good show. Neither happened. At the end of the day…not one sole (sp) will run to [my] store and buy product because they [saw my logo and saw] Rick loose (sp) the fight. I've made it my career and business to know what nets a return on investment for the brand…and this is the number 1 reason why I DO NOT hand out money or product to fighters."
This shows what his true intentions were. It was only after a massive backlash that he spun his reasoning to the corner not wearing his product. There are alot of things wrong with all this, but at the end of the day we all got to see how classless HTFU is as a company. Any legitimate sponsor would have just kept all this private and not made such public statements. It's even more classless to not pay a guy based on a bad fight. The good news is that HTFU got all the publicity it wanted.
Hopefully HTFU goes the way of KTFO and other more reliable sponsors become available to fighters. Preferably companies not run by a loser. It only counts if you win or put on a good performance right HTFU?
Big Pun - "I will not comment on Rick and his fight. That is not my place. But what I will tell you is this: I took a huge chance with him. TV exposure was great…but it only holds weight if he wins or puts on a good show. Neither happened. At the end of the day…not one sole (sp) will run to [my] store and buy product because they [saw my logo and saw] Rick loose (sp) the fight. I've made it my career and business to know what nets a return on investment for the brand…and this is the number 1 reason why I DO NOT hand out money or product to fighters."
This shows what his true intentions were. It was only after a massive backlash that he spun his reasoning to the corner not wearing his product. There are alot of things wrong with all this, but at the end of the day we all got to see how classless HTFU is as a company. Any legitimate sponsor would have just kept all this private and not made such public statements. It's even more classless to not pay a guy based on a bad fight. The good news is that HTFU got all the publicity it wanted.
STFU, KTFO, DGAF, HTFU...We get it, BROS. You're completely original and wearing your awesome t-shirts "inspire and motivate athletes of all types to push themselves to levels they never knew they could go to." I'll take the $100 hoodie, totally worth it.
There are a lot of legitimate sponsors out there looking for opportunities to showcase their product. Let's support those guys instead. It's already a tough living for a mma fighter without having to worry about this sort of thing. Props to the mma community for making it right.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the email that Mike posted initially have the part about the corner edited out? Pretty sure in one of HTFU'S responses they posted the entire email, which does mention the corners not wearing their gear.
HTFU
