On Thursday, Dan Ige, who is currently the #14 ranked featherweight in the UFC Official rankings-posted on
social media that he wasn’t allowed to wear red shorts for his upcoming fight with Melquizael Costa at UFC Houston in February. According to the Hawaiian, his request for shorts is limited to the countries he is allowed to represent.The man once known as “Dynamite” posted part of a message from UFC or Venum staff, explaining that he will only be allowed to represent the US or “universal,” i.e. no country, when he walks out on February 21st. This obstacle harkens back to the bizarre situation faced by middleweight Anthony Hernandez, where he was reportedly forced to prove his family lineage in order to represent Mexico. Ige claimed that the promotion did not allow him to choose other countries because he had not achieved a high enough percentage on his genealogical studies elsewhere.
“Apparently I can’t wear red shorts (even though I have 3 times in my 20 UFC fights) for my upcoming fight because the US doesn’t have red. Even though red symbolizes toughness and courage in the American flag. And my Ancestry.com results aren’t enough to represent Japan. Does anyone know what country camouflage is? Or pink? Or orange? [To] Venum: but I can wear purple???”, Ige wroteslightly edited for clarity.
The spirit of red, white and blue
According to the image Ige posted along with his post, he showed that the promotion requires documentation for specific national representation on his shorts. He protested this, as he wore red shorts when he faced Sean Woodson in April 2025 – when the UFC and Venum were already partners.“Unfortunately, the USA does not have Red as an option,” the alleged post from the UFC and/or Venum staff wrote. “If there is no country you can provide documentation for, that has red as the fighting short color option. You would have to represent the US or Universal.”
It went further, limiting the Hawaiian to just four choices for his next fight: “US Fighting Short Color Options: Blue/Black/White. Universal Fighting Short Color Options: Purple/Black/White.”
In addition to his fight with Woodson in 2025, Ige previously competed wearing red shorts when he clashed with Andre Fili in February 2024. He also wore the red variant during his 2017 appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series.
The frustrated featherweight has since commented further on the matter, jokingly asking fellow fighter Jeremy Kennedy if he could borrow his Canadian passport as those from Canada are currently allowed to wear red shorts. He then agreed that he could ‘colour [his] white shorts with the blood of
[his] opponent,” as suggested by a social media user accelerationrx. Also the Honolulu native asked
that AI tool Grok created him a pair of custom red shorts with a Hawaiian theme and his favorite Bible verse.
Since this brouhaha developed on social media, Ige and his team have been in touch with the action behind the scenes. As of “50K”, the situation is now resolved. Hours after his initial posts on Thursday, he provided a positive update on his request.
“Update: I’m getting red shorts,” he says wrotealong with a greeting emoji and one of the American flag.
Apparently I can’t wear red shorts (even though I have 3 times in my 20s @ufc fights) for my upcoming fight because the US doesn’t have red. Even though red symbolizes hardiness and courage in the American flag. And my
https://t.co/bpzjJiGE2f
results are not enough to represent Japan.… pic.twitter.com/PIAyJUGZLn— Dan Ige (@Dynamitedan808)
January 29, 2026
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