James Thompson's and Phil Baroni's "PRIMETIME" tattoos

by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Jun 20, 2008 at 5:52 pm ET

Soon after the May 31 "EliteXC: PRIMETIME" event, MMAjunkie.com heard rumors of main-card fighters James Thompson and Phil Baroni sneaking some temporary body tattoos onto the CBS nationally televised event.

Obviously, when mentioning "temporary tattoos" in the sports world, it's hard not to conjure up images of big and gaudy Golden Palace Casino logos stuck to the backs of boxers, competitive eaters, and even Dennis Rodman when he took part in the 2004 Running of the Bulls.

After a little digging, though, we learned that the fighters were, in fact, adorned with temporary tattoos, but they were far more subtle than the monstrosities that the online casinos used to favor.

After a few phone calls, we tracked down Joe Lear, the founder and CEO of Big Boxing. He calls himself a "professional middle man," and he's also the man who brokered Thompson's and Baroni's tattoo deals.

Lear realized what a golden opportunity it would be for a sponsor to reach a huge, national TV audience. So he pitched the idea to a couple companies. And with the Ed Hardy brand and designer Christian Audigier offering the fighters a lucrative sponsorship deal, Baroni and Thompson agreed to be the guinea pigs.

"They were having trouble getting completely sponsored for the event," said Lear, who was part of the early boom of online casinos and sports books. "I told them they were looking at it the wrong way. I told them to sell it as product placement on CBS. ... Within a week, we have a meeting with Christian Audigier. He said, 'Here's some money. Get creative. Run with it.'"

The Ed Hardy brand may be familiar to MMA fans. Based on the work of tattoo artist Don Ed Hardy, the trendy clothing company has been making inroads into the MMA community. The EliteXC event and millions of at-home viewers was a perfect fit, Lear said.

So, the company sent two of its best artists to New Jersey for the event. They applied the tattoos prior to the weigh-ins. Apparently, though, the fighters took a don't-ask-don't-tell policy and never asked for permission to wear them.

They, of course, went unnoticed, and not until after the event did anyone realize that Baroni and Thompson had pulled a fast one (though the fact that the tattoos were perhaps a little too unobtrusive may have played a part in it).

In any manner, there are more guys like Joe Lear out there looking for the next big deal. So don't be surprised if some savvy marketers find new and unique ways to sponsor fighters. After all, the focus is now on MMA.

"MMA is where it's at," Lear said. "There's no more competition. Boxing is B-level now. MMA is the big show."

(Photos courtesy BigBoxing.com and MMAAgents.com)