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Coker baffled by UFC fighters being forced to wear Reebok

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Bellator president Scott Coker has some questions about the UFC's dress code.

The UFC signed an exclusive apparel deal with Reebok in 2014, forbidding its fighters from walking to the cage wearing any other sponsors. Many have complained about making less money under this arrangement and veterans like Ryan Bader and Josh Thomson have made the jump to Bellator where they've said the lack of sponsorship restriction has allowed them to make more money than they would have if they'd stayed in the Octagon.

On a recent episode of "The MMA Hour," Coker raised the issue again of how athletes who are not full-time employees of the UFC can be bound to such guidelines.

"Listen, they're independent contractors," Coker said, according to Ryan Harkness of MMA Mania. "How they're forced to wear uniforms, to this day, still baffles me. It should be against the labor laws or something. Because you have to wear this sponsor? You have to wear a certain uniform when you fight?

"To me, they should be contractually positioned to get whatever sponsor they want. If Ryan Bader went out and made a million dollars in sponsorship, good for you."

In addition to Bader, notable names like Rory MacDonald, Lorenz Larkin, and Roy Nelson recently made the jump to Bellator, which lends credence to the theory that the Reebok deal has played a part in fighters seeking greener pastures.

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