WATCH: Legendary cutman Stitch Duran reveals why the UFC BRUTALLY AXED him
Follow Us
Stitch Duran was fired by the UFC in 2015.
If one knows anything about boxing, or MMA, one would likely have heard the name, Jacob “Stitch” Duran. With long wavy hair and big spectacles, he could easily be recognized in the octagon or the ring.
The legendary cutman had an instrumental job in the UFC – as can be deciphered from his name, that of patching the fighters up. Every organization needs a solid cutman to patch the fighters up between the rounds, to stitch up any wound openings that are leaking. Without such a cutman, most fights would probably be called off by the organization’s doctor.
Exemplifying the importance of proper care between rounds, Nate Diaz’s fight against Jorge Masvidal was called off by the doctors at UFC 244 after the 3rd round because of Diaz’s excessive leaking. However, that is not to say that Duran being there would’ve saved the fight, as Nate Diaz has a lot of residual scar tissue, which inevitably starts leaking as soon as contact is made.
In 2015, Stitch Duran, much adored by the fighters was fired by the UFC under mysterious circumstances. For a man who had served for 15 years in the company, the reasons for his axing surely were ambiguous.
“He was never my friend” Dana White said in 2015, trying to remove any links with Stitch Duran after his firing
The axing of the veteran cutman came as a huge surprise to MMA fighters and fans alike. While he did comment on it, the reasons and the manner in which he was fired have remained vague till now.
In an interview, Stitch Duran talked about how it all went down. He said, “I worked for the UFC in the golden era of MMA. Fighters were making a lot of money on sponsors. When the UFC went into the Reebok deal, they took away all the sponsors. Nobody was happy”, giving context to the eventual axing.
Continuing, he said, “I was asked if I’d be interested in doing an interview about how the Reebok deal is affecting the company. I did..it got viral! Sure enough, that night, I received a call from the UFC saying that the UFC is not gonna use me no more.”
While this can be infuriating for the fans, the UFC has showcased behaviour of censuring its employees and its fighters in the past. One need only look at how fighting world outlaw Jake Paul gets under Dana White’s skin whenever he talks about fighter pay. Echoing the fans’ fury and disappointment, many fighters took to social media to vent their frustration as well.
???? @stitchduran ??? https://t.co/reml8CgGUO pic.twitter.com/5YR0TRHbGo
— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) July 22, 2015
Soooo we the fighters are assed out because @StitchDuran spoke his mind? Smfh when one door closes another opens. Much respect to you Stitch
— Rumble Johnson (@Anthony_Rumble) July 22, 2015
Sooo disappointed to hear about @StitchDuran !! He's the man and was my go to guy. Wrapped me for all my championship fights!
— Chris Weidman (@chrisweidman) July 22, 2015
Since, President of the UFC has tried to maintain his distance from the iconic cutman, who has also appeared in the boxing movie Creed (2015), in which he wraps Apollo Creed’s son’s hands. In 2015, White said that “Stitch Duran was never my friend.“
Fighter pay is an issue that the UFC has long tried to silence – while Dana White and the UFC have their salient argument for defending themselves, more and more fighters are being more vocal about their feelings. Its only a matter of time before we see more concrete steps being taken to look after MMA athletes better.
Also Read- “He’s my b*tch” – UFC fighter Bryce Mitchell says he would “F**K” Floyd Mayweather in jail
Stay Updated!
Udayan Mukherjee
(382 Articles Published)