The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion has unveiled a global tie-up with Stancé, a designer art toy company.
Through an agreement unveiled yesterday, Stancé will create limited-edition designer toys for UFC.
This deal has been brokered by IMG, the heavyweight sports marketing agency owned by Endeavor, which also owns UFC. As such, IMG handles UFC’s commercial rights deals.
Shaun Sakdinan, founder of Stancé (launched this year) and owner of Brand Development International Inc, has now said: “As a lifelong fan of collectibles and with more than two decades in the toy industry, I am thrilled to launch Stancé on a global scale with UFC. Our mission, together with UFC, is to create something truly special, new, and limited for the serious UFC fan.”
The premier edition of the UFC Collector Toys range will make its debut at the UFC X fan festival across June 28 and 29.
The initial release will be a limited-edition collectible of UFC icon Conor McGregor.
This collectible will be released in four variants, all of which come with official UFC coding and a certificate of authenticity.
June has already seen UFC unveil a marketing tie-up with DIY brand Hart Tools.
Through the tie-up, Hart has become the promotion’s power tool partner in the US, UFC’s first sponsor in this category.
Late last month, meanwhile, UFC unveiled a global commercial deal with Aires Tech, a tech firm producing anti-radiation solutions.