Collaboration Unites UFC’s Performance Institute with FoodStory Brands’ Award-Winning Food & Beverage Incubator to Introduce the World’s Next Big Performance Nutrition Brand
LAS VEGAS, Feb. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — UFC®, the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization, today announced a strategic partnership with FoodStory Brands (FSB), an award-winning incubator and disruptive innovator in the consumer-packaged goods (CPG) food and beverage space, to develop and launch a high-performance, nutritionist-backed protein bar for the fast-growing performance nutrition category. The partnership was brokered by UFC’s licensing agent, IMG Licensing. This groundbreaking collaboration merges the UFC Performance Institute (UFC PI), the world’s leading combat sports performance training, research, rehabilitation, and nutrition center, with FoodStory Brands’ expertise in scaling disruptive, high-quality food brands. The result will be an exciting and compelling new brand, to be announced later this year, and a line of elevated and innovative high-protein bars with targeted functional ingredients, leveraging research-driven nutrition to meet the demands of UFC athletes as well as performance-minded consumers. “By bringing together the UFC Performance Institute’s experience working daily with the world’s best combat sport athletes and FoodStory’s ability to turn bold ideas into high-quality consumer products, we have a powerful combination,” said Dr. Duncan French, Senior Vice President, UFC Performance Institute. “Through close collaboration, we have developed a protein bar that reflects how athletes train, fuel, and recover, and we are making this available to general consumers. We believe this partnership has produced something truly unique that will stand out as a leader in the market and raise the standards for performance nutrition.” “At FoodStory Brands, we pride ourselves on creating meaningful brand stories and amazing products backed by powerful consumer insight and innovation,” said Jordan Jedeikin, EVP Business Development at FoodStory Brands. “Collaborating with UFC—a global powerhouse in performance, endurance, and innovation—gives us a unique opportunity to bring a nutritionist-backed, high-performance protein bar to market that’s designed for both elite athletes and everyday achievers.” UFC opened the first Performance Institute at UFC headquarters in Las Vegas in 2017, followed by facilities in Shanghai in 2019 and Mexico City in 2024. Since its inception, the UFC PI has become an essential resource for UFC athletes around the world, supporting over 80% of the roster through in-person coaching, remote interactions, or UFC event services. In addition to supporting athletes locally in China and Mexico, the UFC PI Shanghai and Mexico City locations serve as training hubs to develop MMA athletes from the greater Asia and Latin America regions, respectively. FoodStory Brands has emerged as one of the fastest-growing innovators in the CPG food and beverage sector, specializing in curating brands that bring disruption and revitalization to mature categories. The company scaled Fresh Cravings into a national $100 million refrigerated dips brand, developed an award-winning Yellowstone licensing program that has driven over $100 million in sales, and continues to expand its portfolio with innovative national launches like Upper Cut (America’s Fastest Growing Deli Snack Brand) and Mad Genius (a new Gen Z focused frozen snacks and apps mashup brand). About UFC® UFC® is the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization (MMA), with more than 700 million fans and approximately 330 million social media followers. The organization produces more than 40 live events annually in some of the most prestigious arenas around the world while distributing programming to more than 950 million broadcast and digital households across more than 210 countries and territories. UFC’s athlete roster features the world’s best MMA athletes representing more than 75 countries. The organization’s digital offerings include UFC FIGHT PASS®, one of the world’s leading streaming services for combat sports. UFC is part of TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO) and is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. For more information, visit UFC.com and follow UFC at Facebook.com/UFC and @UFC on X, Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok: @UFC. About the UFC Performance InstituteThe UFC Performance Institute (UFC PI) is the world’s first mixed martial arts multi-disciplinary research, innovation and performance center. The UFC PI is equipped with a full-time staff of experts in the fields of strength and conditioning, nutrition, and physical therapy, with a designed focus to providing athletes with world-class performance optimization. The first facility opened in Las Vegas in 2017, followed by additional locations in Shanghai in 2019 and Mexico City in 2024. All UFC PI services are offered at no cost to UFC athletes. For more information on the UFC Performance Institute, please visit ufcpi.com. About FoodStory Brands
FoodStory Brands, founded in 2015, is an award-winning family-owned and operated consumer packaged goods company (CPG) based in Phoenix, Arizona with regional satellite offices across the country. Passionate about finding and developing new food and beverage products, the company specializes in building challenger brands that create disruption and revitalize categories. The company has built and scaled national brands like Fresh Cravings and has won over 100 awards for product innovation, packaging design, marketing campaigns and food licensing programs. The team has curated and launched two new national brands in Mad Genius and Upper Cut. In addition, FoodStory Brands brings to life compelling stories with iconic global brands like award-winning Yellowstone Authentic Cowboy Cuisine, among many others. Beyond brand building, FoodStory Brands is deeply invested in giving back to its communities, consistently dedicating volunteer hours and financial resources to local and national nonprofits. To learn more about FoodStory Brands, visit www.foodstorybrands.com. SOURCE FoodStory Brands
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