“I was shopping at Costco when I got a text from someone at the UFC asking if I could talk. When I called them, they said... ‘They don’t want you to work for the UFC anymore because of the article you did on the Reebok deal.’ At that point, you know, I’m not going to kiss anybody’s ass and try to argue with them so, yeah, it was that quick.”
“They wanted us cutmen to be a part of the Reebok deal, to wear the gear, but we weren’t going to get compensated. In my book, that’s not right. I spoke up for the cutmen, and with my character, I had to speak out about it."
“I know business. I know how it works. I’ve been with companies like Tapout, One More Round, Xyience... They all saw value in me and our other cutmen, and I’ve been with these companies from the beginning. We gave these companies great exposure. So, now I’m getting penalized for speaking the truth about something that needed to be said."
"If they were smart, they would listen to all these comments about how nobody likes the new designs, and they should re-tweak it. They’ve invested all this money into it, so re-tweak it and get some opinions from people that understand the game. Listen to the fans. Listen to the fighters. They all said it looked generic. But I spoke the truth, and I guess the truth hurt. I’m the one who took the bullet for the cutmen."
“The way this machine has been working, something had to be done. We were the forgotten soldiers. On the battlefield, we were left behind. Dana [White], being the general, left us in the trenches. They never really appreciated the work we did. The fighters did, of course, and I worked my ass off for these guys. If I was assigned five guys, I did eight or nine, because everybody wanted me to wrap their hands, too. I always did it, because I love the fighters and I love the game. [The UFC] never respected us.”
Excerpts from a Sherdog story - http://m.sherdog.com/news/news/Cutman-Stitch-Duran-on-UFC-Firing-Im-Getting-Penalized-for-Speaking-the-Truth-89517
good grief.. the fertitta brothers still treat the ufc as a casino.. for every supervisor, manager and principle player.. there are at least 5 or more other employees trained and ready to step up at a moments notice.. everyone is replaceable dana.. including you.. just a matter of time.
"The way this machine has been working, something had to be done. We were the forgotten soldiers. On the battlefield, we were left behind. Dana [White], being the general, left us in the trenches. They never really appreciated the work we did. The fighters did, of course, and I worked my ass off for these guys. If I was assigned five guys, I did eight or nine, because everybody wanted me to wrap their hands, too. I always did it, because I love the fighters and I love the game. [The UFC] never respected us."
Damn..This is a huge loss for the fighters, how many cutmen have Stitch's experience? How many dudes have been wrapping hands and stopping cuts for that long? Guys like Stitch bring an atmosphere with them, an energy.
The sponsors didn't value Stitch or any other cut men. They valued the spare real estate on his vest. If it were me out there they would want to fill my vest too.
I'm not saying Stitch is wrong, just saying that those sponsors only cared about a flash appearance on a UFC card.
Stitch will be fine and hes a fucking real man for speaking up.
Stitch is part of what i consider the ufc. I dont kniw how many more of these decisions based on money over the sport i can stand. Cunts. And yes im mad bro.
I really shouldn't complain about anything the UFC does because I stream every event. The last event I paid for was UFC 100, and I only paid for that because it was a huge card and I thought it was actually worth the money,
Stitch is a very good person, and he is amazing at his job. The fighters are probably more upset than anyone. This affects them the most.
I met Stitch at a WEC event. It was my first mma event ever, so I was so excited. He came up and started a conversation with me, because he was happy to see someone having such a good time.
Maybe others can work on cuts, but he brings much more to the table.
The fighters need to stand up for Stitch imo. Unfortunately UFC is pretty much the only player in town so everyone is too afraid to speak up.
The fans do IMO. People here need to be flooding the UFC's inbox and expressing their displeasure. Make enough noise and he'll be back. There's no way it's worth it for UFC to face this kind of backlash instead of just throwing him a few extra bones to make him happy.
The fighters need to stand up for Stitch imo. Unfortunately UFC is pretty much the only player in town so everyone is too afraid to speak up.
The fans do IMO. People here need to be flooding the UFC's inbox and expressing their displeasure. Make enough noise and he'll be back. There's no way it's worth it for UFC to face this kind of backlash instead of just throwing him a few extra bones to make him happy.
Other cutmen and anyone else that's getting shafted should boycott the ufc as well.