And1 sponsors Nate Quarry

Via MSNBC by way of MMA Payout:

And1 is primarily a basketball company, best known for its moderately priced footwear and apparel as well as the high-energy mixtapes that functioned as guerilla marketing and launched the brand into national consciousness. The California company, however, recently decided to dip its kicks into the waters of MMA, signing popular UFC middleweight Nate Quarry to a multi-fight sponsorship deal.

My take
Much like I said about Lugz' sponsorship of Lyoto Machida and Houston Alexander, I'm happy to see And1 entering the MMA world, but this particular move is strange to me. Anybody will tell you that Quarry is definitely a great guy, but he isn't the best fighter by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, he's most known for being KOd by Rich Franklin in extremely brutal fashion. That's not a dealbreaker for sponsoring a fighter, but it does matter.

The real puzzler, though, is that Nate has absolutely nothing to do with anything hip hop, urban culture, basketball, or anything else that most people would associate with And1. The MMA scene in general is a stronger match for action sports and rock culture, so it's tough to find fighters that are a perfect fit for hip hop brands like And1, but they're out there. Nick Diaz would be a good candidate, especially since his smack talking and showboating are very similar to the kind of stuff you see in an Anda1 mixtape (watch some interviews with him, he is absolutely out of his mind- in a good way).

In any case, I have no way to verify this, but the popular and generally correct MMA forum The Underground says:

The connection with And1 and Nate Quarry is Portland Trail Blazers point guard Steven Blake. Some of you might remember him from the national championship winning Maryland Terrapins in 2002. Blake also has a deal with And1. Blake and Quarry became friends because Blake trains BJJ in the off season. Blake introduced And1 to Quarry and they struck a deal.