venture founded 1997 ; 19 years ago 1997 founder charles lewis jr. dan caldwell tim katz headquarters baltimore maryland u.s. area served worldwide products clothing footwear sporting equipment accessories parent wwe 50 % authentic brands group 50 % website www.tapout.com tapout is an american multinational corporation that designs and manufactures sports clothing casual apparel and accessories headquartered in baltimore maryland . it is one of the largest sportswear manufacturers in the united states and one of the biggest in the world . tapout was registered in 1997 in san bernardino county california by charles lewis jr. dan caldwell and tim katz . the company was founded after the trio began selling mixed martial arts clothing from the back of their ford mustang . 1 selling the merchandise during a period where mma solely reached a niche market lewis caldwell and katz branded the company around the sport distributing the merchandise in cities where the sport was prevalent . however following the growing popularity of mixed martial arts in the united states and its later nationwide mainstream acceptance the company became the largest mma related merchandise company in the world accruing revenues of over 22.5 million . 2 in march 2015 the company was relaunched following its joint ventured acquisition by entertainment company wwe and development firm authentic brands group . the venture saw the former mma related brand transformed into a more general lifestyle fitness one . the apparel for men and women is expected to be released in spring of 2016 . throughout 2015 wwe marketed the brand through various products including beverages supplements and gyms . 3 wwe will hold a 50 % stake in the brand and so will advertise it regularly across all its platforms hoping to give it one billion impressions a month and attempting to rival sports clothing giant under armour . all employees and students of the wwe performance center will also wear the clothing . 4 contents 1 history 1.1 origins initial success and sale 1.2 relaunch with abg in conjunction with wwe 2 references history edit origins initial success and sale edit tapout was founded by charles lewis jr. and gary fields in 1997 . fields was a contractor and investor and lewis was a sheriff whom rented a room from fields . the idea for the company occurred when both men noticed the lack of mixed martial arts merchandise . later that year lewis took on some new partners in dan caldwell and tim katz whom would have been about 14 years old at that time . the majority of their initial sales were made at local fights in las vegas where they sold mixed martial arts clothing from the back of their ford mustang . lewis caldwell and katz later began to distribute the merchandise in other cities where the then niche sport was prevalent . however due to the growth of popularity and acceptance of mixed martial arts in the united states in the following years the company would continue to grow . due to this rapid rise tapout was able to officially sponsor various high profile fighters including rashad evans dan hardy thiago alves and chael sonnen . this rapid growth led to the company becoming the largest distributor of mma merchandise in the world recording revenue of over 22.5 million in 2007 . in late 2007 lewis created and produced the reality television series tapout . the show followed him as he searched the united states for up and coming mixed martial arts fighters . it aired for two seasons on cable channel versus before being cancelled . it also gave birth to a short lived radio show and was the official apparel brand for the ultimate fighter during its run on spike . in early 2009 charles lewis jr. died in a high speed car crash in newport beach california . lewis ferrari 360 challenge stradale collided with an unidentified 1977 porsche before hitting a light pole . it is also presumed that the two vehicles were traveling alongside one another at high speed with lewis being declared dead at the scene . lacy lynn white a twenty three year old female occupant of lewis ferrari was ejected from the vehicle and was taken to a hospital suffering a fractured elbow and lacerations . the driver of the porsche was arrested for alcohol related gross vehicular manslaughter . as a tribute to his contributions to ufc lewis was posthumously inducted into the ufc hall of fame at the ufc 100 fan expo as well as his name being made a permanent feature on the inside of the door to the octagon . katz and caldwell as well as the fans in attendance held a minute s silence for lewis . following his death the remaining founders decided to sell tapout which was bought by authentic brands group in 2010 . relaunch with abg in conjunction with wwe edit following abg s absorption of tapout the firm looked to re brand the company . the firm reached out to wrestling entertainment company wwe in attempts to form a working relationship . wwe who deal primarily in professional wrestling came to an agreement with abg in march 2015 to relaunch tapout as a joint venture . the venture saw the former mma related brand transformed into more general lifestyle fitness apparel and is expected to be released in spring of 2016 . wwe marketed the brand through various products including beverages supplements and gyms with the company hoping to achieve one billion impressions a month in order to build the brand . citation needed references edit tapout founder killed in socal ferrari crash . fox news . 2009 03 12 . retrieved 2013 08 24 . q & a with mask from tapout . sports illustrated . cnn . 2008 07 30 . retrieved 2009 03 12 . wwe relaunching prominent mma brand tapout as lifestyle fitness brand . sherdog . marc graser . wwe to relaunch tapout clothing brand in new joint venture . variety . v t e wwe history 1980s boom black saturday wrestlemania the kliq monday night wars montreal screwjob attitude era 1998 hell in a cell match death of owen hart the invasion brand extension 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