“Research and awareness are key in setting new standards for athlete health and safety,” UFC chief operating officer Lawrence Epstein said in a press release back in February. “UFC is always looking for opportunities to invest in industry-leading health and wellness programs and providing resources to develop its athletes inside and outside the Octagon.”
UFC has indeed stuck to these words with announcements of three recent partnerships to give their athletes better sources to enhance their training and safety.
1. Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic, located in Cleveland, Ohio, is a nonprofit multi-specialty academic medical center. The company’s mission is to provide better care for the sick, investigate the problems patients have and then further educate those who serve the patients.
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The Cleveland Clinic supports the Professional Fighters Brain Health Study. The study, established in 2011, is conducted at the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas. Its emphasis is on the early identification of head trauma and the long-term consequences.
“We have learned quite a bit in the first four years of the study about how repetitive head trauma affects the brain and how we can detect accumulating injury,” said Charles Bernick, M.D, and Associate Medical Directory at the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health and principal investigator of the study.
Thanks to a newly announced five-year extension and one-million-dollar contribution from UFC, researchers are confident that their findings will benefit the safety of health of not only fighters, but also other athletes. The funds from UFC will also aid in providing support to continue the study.
“The involvement of the fighting community and organizations like UFC will only help us better understand the field and protect our athletes,” Bernick added. “Their support has helped sustain the infrastructure of this very large study and will allow us to follow the participants over longer periods of time and develop ways to improve safety in combat sports, along with others exposed to repetitive head trauma.”
2. EXOS
The next deal UFC closed is a partnership with EXOS, a fitness company that will offer hi-tech training opportunities for UFC athletes to help minimize the risk of injury. The EXOS mission is to empower athletes to improve their performance. Through mindset, nutrition, movement and recovery, EXOS will design health and performance game plans to guide athletes to reach their goals.
We are spending the day w/ @TeamEXOS! Follow our @Snapchat SC: UFC for all the #BTS!
https://t.co/6Y0rdDTwNG
— UFC (@ufc) March 30, 2016
UFC athletes will have the opportunity to train and learn from EXOS and their staff of coaches, nutritionists and physical therapists, as well as the chance to participate in educational seminars at UFC Athlete Summits throughout the year. The first group is already going through training in Phoenix, Ariz., the headquarters for EXOS.
3. GuardLab
The EXOS collaboration links directly to UFC’s newest announcement about their partnership with GuardLab, which will also give UFC athletes a less likely chance for injury. GuardLab will provide personalized protection to UFC fighters by creating custom mouthguards with their 3D scanning technologies. The GuardLab team determines each customer’s best bite position, which repositions and stabilizes the jaw and neck muscles. This then supports full body alignment.
“With the ever-changing landscape in professional sports, we’re always looking for the next cutting-edge technology and innovation to aid athletes that compete in the UFC,” Tracey Bleczinsky, UFC Senior Vice President of Global Consumer Products, said in a press release. “We are excited to partner with GuardLab as they continue to develop products that help improve the overall performance and wellness of professional athletes.”
Excited to have @GuardLab as a partner. They produce high-quality products for our athletes. Rave reviews thus far. https://t.co/dJX0gnqLPi
— Dave Sholler (@Sholler_UFC) March 16, 2016
“UFC is an exciting world-class organization, and we are thrilled about our partnership to equip and offer their athletes with what we believe to be a transformative piece of sports technology,” said Aidan Butler, CEO of GuardLab. “We are committed to creating an engaging brand experience and delivering a superior product for athletes everywhere.”
In an effort to build upon these partnership, UFC has recently broken ground on the UFC Athlete Health and Performance Center. Located in Las Vegas, the center is set to open in 2017 and will offer UFC athletes a facility for performance training, rehabilitation, nutrition and sports science in a building that will expand more than 30,000 square feet.
With these recent deals UFC has signed, the sport will be able to expand and spread awareness about their brand, as well as provide their athletes with safety and world-class training opportunities.