UFC didn't know it had wrong canvas until unwrapped for UFC Fight Night 41

BERLIN – Here’s one takeaway on the UFC’s production from UFC Fight Night 41: It has options when it comes to canvas.

UFC President Dana White explained on Saturday why the fighting surface for the event was so bare: It was the wrong one.

The right one, he wrote, was in Brazil, shipped on accident to the country hosting the TUF Brazil 3 Finale on the same night. There was time enough before the event in Sao Paulo to adjust that canvas (pictured above). But there wasn’t enough time to update the one in Berlin.

“#someonef–kedupBIG,” White wrote.

According to UFC executive Garry Cook, who attended UFC Fight Night 41's post-event news conference on Saturday in lieu of White, who was outbound to the U.S., the promotion didn’t realize it had a problem until the canvas was laid down on the platform supporting the octagon.

“We realized we had the wrong canvas when we put it down,” Cook told MMAjunkie. “We have the logistics of this business, with over 50 fights a year, (and) sometimes stuff doesn’t quite work out the way it’s supposed to and the canvas that was supposed to be here is somewhere else at the moment.

“So we had to go to Plan B. Fortunately, we are well equipped to have a Plan B, so that was the standard canvas that didn’t meet the sponsor’s needs, but it met our needs and the fighters’ needs.”

What that means is that while the surface was fit for combat, it had none of the traditional logos that give the canvas a busier look and a splash of color. Those logos also put money in the UFC’s pocket.

A chief task for the promotion prior to each fight is allotting space for sponsors on the canvas. Whether their deal is long- or short-term, companies expect to see their brand on the mat. It’s exposure that presumably equates to more business.

With an octagon plain except for the traditional UFC logo, there would be no checks being cashed. But according to Cook, there are no hard feelings.

“We informed them ahead of time,” he said. “They knew what was coming, and it’s just part of doing business. When you’re running this operation, it’s not easy, and it’s just one of those things. It happens.”

The UFC has seen all types of snafus on short notice, whether it be a price tag on shorts or a banana hammock on a fighter. While it hasn’t been able to stop all of them, for this one, it had things under control.

But the promotion’s shipping department might be getting unpleasant phone call soon.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 41, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.

(Pictured: The UFC’s octagon canvas on Saturday night in Sao Paulo, Brazil.)