Looking back at the story of Tapout, MMA’s first clothing brand

Back in 1997, three men got together and started an MMA brand of clothing, named Tapout. Just 10 years later, it was the biggest MMA clothing brand in the world and had a turnover of more than $200 million. Sadly, it went downhill from there and had a tragic ending that saw one of the original founders killed in a horrific car crash.

These days, many people either look back on Tapout and laugh at its cringy culture (more on that later), or with fondness at a bygone era. One thing’s for sure though, without Tapout, the world of MMA would look vastly different. Read on for more information.

What’s the deal with Tapout?

Tapout has been described as the ‘Ed Hardy’ of MMA clothing and this description is pretty accurate. Its style is instantly recognizable and dare we say it, overly flamboyant. For instance, most Tapout t-shirts would have skulls, flames, and tribal markings. This quickly grew a reputation that it was worn by douchebag types and overly aggressive MMA fans.

Remember, back then times were different and MMA and the UFC were trying to move away from its previous ‘bloodsport’ reputation. Tapout fans did little to change this perception. In fairness, it wasn’t the fault of the Tapout brand – but instead their clothes seemed to be adopted by morons. For the record, at this time a lot of general MMA fans would also wear the brand who were well behaved. Sadly though, it only takes a few idiots to ruin a public image.

So, Tapout was pretty huge at one point and had loud clothing that was visually very easy to notice. This, combined with crazy MMA fans led to a reputation that never truly recovered.

Tapout was smarter than people think

These days, people sometimes look back on Tapout with a snobby attitude. As mentioned, this is a bit unfair but regardless, the founders were not idiots. Back then, you could pay to sponsor the clothes worn by UFC fighters whereas these days it’s a closed deal with the likes of Reebok and Venum dominating the clothing. In other words, anyone could pay to get their clothes worn…and that is what Tapout did.

Tapout was one of the first companies around to aggressively market their brand and charismatic fighters such as Dan Hardy and Chael Sonnen wore their shirts and logos to the octagon. As a result, people would see their loud clothing and buy it. This marketing tactic is commonplace these days and is often used with social media influencers and celebrities. However, back in the earlier 2000s, it was relatively unheard of. Because of this, you could claim that Tapout was truly ahead of its time.

The sad death of Charles Lewis Jr

One of the three founders of Tapout was Charles Lewis Jr. If Tapout was known for its loud appearance, then Lewis Jr. matched this image perfectly with his equally outlandish persona. For instance, he was also known as ‘Mask’ due to wearing face paint and hats which almost gave him a WWE wrestling look. It wasn’t just Mask who had a strange persona either, with co-founder Tim Katz also referred to as ‘Skyscraper’ due to his 6’7″ frame.

Aged 45, Mask died in a car crash in 2009. Here, his Ferrari collided with a Porsche whose driver was intoxicated and later arrested for manslaughter. After this, the UFC paid tribute to Charles Lewis Jr who was posthumously inducted into their hall of fame. This made him the first-ever non-MMA fighter to be inducted into the roster which speaks volumes about his involvement in the company.

Life after the UFC and deal with WWE

As the public perception of MMA began to change, Tapout arguably became more taboo and those who wore the clothes were sometimes stigmatized. You could claim that this was the kiss of death for any brand where people that wear the clothes are ridiculed and looked down upon. In short, MMA was taken more seriously and wasn’t seen as such a freak show anymore. Because of this, Tapout was less trendy and brands such as Reebok started moving in. Obviously, the death of Lewis Jr. also changed the way the company operated.

This led to AGB purchasing Tapout in 2010 who then did a deal with WWE four years later. Here, WWE would sell Tapout branding clothing alongside their wrestling image and would remarket Tapout as more of gym lifestyle brand, rather than an MMA fighting brand.

Arguably, this move didn’t work out too well for WWE as it never really took off. Even though they had big stars such as John Cena wearing the newly re-modeled Tapout clothing, it didn’t exactly move mountains. At this point, you could say that the gym market was already too saturated so it was an impossible task from the likes of Vince McMahon and co.

Tapout lives on…kind of

Years later, the Tapout brand isn’t really much of a thing anymore and can’t be purchased on the WWE’s website.

Having said this, It is still available on sites such as Amazon and certain budget retailers, where you can pick up t-shirts for around $5 brand new. This says a lot about Tapout and how low its status has fallen. It should also be noted that since moving to the WWE, it ditched the crazy designs for a more subtle logo. In other words, if you still want to wear Tapout then you can. Similarly, you can still pick up some of the retro gear on eBay too from the used market. What should be said though is that wearing this brand may earn you some funny looks.

Remembering Tapout

So far, we’ve discussed the rise and fall of Tapout – and whilst it would be very easy to dismiss it and focus on the negatives, you also have to admire its success. Three regular guys got together and made an international brand that deserves credit. As said earlier, they weren’t exactly fools either and knew how to market their brand and make it work in a competitive arena.

With this said, it’s quite disappointing to see the current status of Tapout. On the one hand, the memes can be funny and there’s definitely some truth in terms of its customer base, and where MMA was at the time. On the other, it made a lot of people rich and helped shape the way sponsorship branding deals were designed in MMA. Because of this, it’s fair to say that Tapout should be remembered as a pioneering force within the MMA world, and one that you won’t forget anytime soon.

If you’re a fan of Tapout and want a nostalgic look, then check out their shorts here.