UFC Announces New Partnership with Kobe Bryant's BODYARMOR


UFC®, the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization, today announced a multi-year partnership with BODYARMOR® Sports Drink, establishing the isotonic brand as the first-ever “Official Sports Drink” of UFC.

As part of this ground-breaking collaboration, which covers the United States and begins in 2018, BODYARMOR will supply its line of high-end sports hydration products: BODYARMOR sports drink and BODYARMOR LYTE, to the UFC Performance Institute’s two “BODYARMOR Hydration Stations”.

“BODYARMOR is an industry leader in sports hydration and they are a perfect fit to partner with UFC,” UFC President Dana White said. “Providing UFC athletes with safe, nutritional products while training at the UFC Performance Institute is an important part of helping them maximize their overall performance and BODYARMOR will help us do that.”

“With the explosive growth that BODYARMOR has seen in recent years – it’s an exciting time for the brand to team up with UFC,” said Mike Repole, co-founder and chairman, BODYARMOR. “A partnership between the fastest-growing sports drink and the fastest-growing sports organization creates a tremendous opportunity for BODYARMOR to play an important role in the hydration needs of some of the best athletes in the world.”

In an interview by Eben Novy-Williams of Bloomberg, Kobe Bryant said, the BodyArmor deal became the template for all his investments. He asks himself, in order: Is the company leader qualified and passionate? What is the brand’s position in the market and what are the barriers to entry? And lastly, is it something that I can help? BodyArmor, and Repole, satisfied all those queries.

“I always go through those checkpoints,” Bryant said. “There are a million different terms and conditions, and those come later in the deal. But it always starts with those four or five points.”

Bryant, who bought a stake in Body Armor in 2013, has said that he wants to be known for his desire to help entrepreneurs be successful over his basketball career. He launched $100 million investment fund Bryant Stibel with former Web.com Chief Executive Jeff Stibel in 2016, after retiring from the NBA that year.



In addition to product placement at the UFC Performance Institute, BODYARMOR will also serve as the presenting sponsor of select UFC weigh-in events, along with providing corner branding of stools, towels and buckets inside UFC’s world-famous Octagon® during all U.S.-based events. BODYARMOR will also have a presence on UFC.com and live-event programming, as well as being integrated across multiple UFC-based social and digital platforms.

BODYARMOR is the fastest growing sports drink in its category, having seen a 110% increase in sales from last year. The consumer demand for a better-for-you sports drink has made BODYARMOR the #3 sports drink in the U.S. Kobe Bryant is the number three shareholder in BODYARMOR.

“BODYARMOR offers a better-for-you hydration option at a time when athletes in every sport are paying more attention to what they put into their bodies,” said Bryant. “UFC athletes demand the best in hydration and nutrition, and we’re excited to be partnering with the UFC on such a large scale.”

BODYARMOR has amassed a superstar roster of professional athletes who are also investors in the company, including James Harden, Mike Trout, Andrew Luck and Dustin Johnson, among others.

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