Longtime Cutman 'Stitch' Duran Says UFC Fired Him over Comments on Reebok Deal

Jacob "Stitch" Duran has been a fixture of the UFC for years. Fans have seen him at nearly every event, tending to fighters' wounds and applying compresses to bumps and bruises. They also might have seen his recent Twitter posts and interview with Bloody Elbow saying that the UFC's recently implemented uniform policy with Reebok was delivering a "solid shot" to his pocket book.

According to Stitch, the world's largest MMA promotion did not take too kindly to those comments and gave him the boot for speaking out about the deal:

"

@daej81 You will be the first to know that the UFC just let me go because I spoke out about the Reebok deal. Got to look for a new job!

— Jacob Stitch Duran (@StitchDuran) July 21, 2015"

MMAJunkie.com's John Morgan confirmed with an anonymous source familiar with the matter that Duran was no longer going to work UFC shows, though "UFC officials declined to comment on Duran's employment status or any potential conflicts."

Needless to say, due to the timing and Duran's iconic status, this is a painfully bad move for the UFC from a PR perspective even if his claim about the motivation behind letting him go isn't true.

The Reebok uniform policy has already generated massive fighter backlash (Warning: NSFW language) since many have been forced to take pay cuts due to its rigid, tenure-based payout system. It wasn't just competitors that took hits, however, as Duran says he was also required to forgo outside income as well, giving up a slew of sponsorships (take a gander at his Twitter avatar).

That was a hard hit for the cutman. The UFC's grueling schedule, and what he says is an "unwritten rule" against working for multiple promotions, required his tenure with the UFC to be a full-time gig.

"

Firing Stitch Duran is the Face the Pain remix of personnel decisions. "Let's see, how do we make this already bad look 1,000 times worse?"

— Chad Dundas (@chaddundas) July 22, 2015"

The release of Duran, who has long been regarded as one of the best in the business by fighters, after an honest, non-offensive discussion of how the uniform policy affects him, is a bad look for the promotion irrespective of Duran's claim. Veteran media member Josh Gross used words like "brazen" and "petty" to describe the move. "Dangerous" is another word that could be thrown around, as the UFC appears to have just released one of the industry's best cutmen, whose core function is to ensure fighters' safety.

There is no word yet on the UFC's plans for cutmen, or what may come next for Stitch. What say you on this, fight fans?