In a sea change for the promotional landscape of mixed martial arts, Affliction has agreed to cease promoting fights and become an official sponsor of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports first reported the news on Friday afternoon, and a UFC official confirmed the report to MMAWeekly.com.

A joint announcement between the Las Vegas-based promotion and California-based clothing maker is expected soon.

Few details about the deal are known, but the popular clothing brand could be seen on Zuffa fighters as soon as Aug. 8, when UFC 101 lands in Philadelphia.

A similar deal was first proposed last October after the postponement of Affliction’s second event, “Day of Reckoning.” Executives from the UFC and Affliction met in secret in Las Vegas and offered to take Affliction on as a sponsor and co-branded apparel maker in exchange for ceasing to promote fights. Affliction executives rejected the offer after a fiery confrontation between co-founder Todd Beard and UFC co-owner Lorenzo Ferttita.

The fate of fighters marooned by Affliction’s cancellation of its third show, “Trilogy,” is unknown at this time.

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UFC AND AFFLICTION issue a joint Statement

The talk of the day on Friday centered on Affliction. Friday morning, MMAWeekly.com reported that the promotion was calling managers and fighters to notify them that its Aug. 1 “Trilogy” event had been cancelled.

Shortly thereafter, Yahoo! Sports writer Kevin Iole reported, and MMAWeekly.com subsequently confirmed with the UFC, that not only was Affliction cancelling “Trilogy,” it also was shuttering its mixed martial arts promotion business and returning as an official sponsor of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Below is the full press statement released late Friday by Affliction and the UFC:

Zuffa, LLC, owner of the Ultimate Fighting Championship “UFC” organization and Affliction Holdings, LLC announced today they have agreed to a collaboration that will benefit the sport of Mixed Martial Arts and ultimately the sport’s growing fan base.

The collaboration ensures commitments by UFC and Affliction for Mixed Martial Arts to continue to be recognized as a mainstream sport.

“We are excited about the return of Affliction to the UFC and look forward to seeing our fighters once again walk into the Octagon wearing the Affliction brands. Affliction is an innovator of mixing fashion with this sport and we are looking forward to working together to promote the sport.” Dana White, President of UFC.

“Our brand is synonymous with the ‘Live Fast’ approach to life and UFC is the perfect venue for us to market our brand. We have come to an agreement with the UFC which we feel will be the best for the sport and will help the UFC continue delivering the highest caliber of fights,” Eric Foss, Co-Founder of Affliction.

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