The Chuck Liddell workout video that has been burning up the Internet and even got on Jimmy Kimmel Live Thursday night is an advertisement for Reebok.
The video shows Liddell and his girlfriend, Heidi Northcott, working out wearing nothing but Reebok ZigTechs, a new line of shoes that Reebok is launching next month and that Liddell has been making appearances for as a celebrity endorser.
TMZ first reported, and MMA Fighting has confirmed, that the whole nude workout scene was a put-on designed to drum up attention for Reebok. It seems to have worked.
From the perspective of a mixed martial arts fan, the fact that so many people were talking about Liddell -- and that a mainstream company like Reebok has signed him to an endorsement deal -- has to be considered a positive sign. There was a time when hardly anyone knew who UFC fighters were, and the few companies that knew what the UFC was would never want to be associated with it. Now a UFC fighter can do a viral video for a major company like Reebok, and it becomes a big deal. Progress.
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