Very sad news this morning as the founder of the TapouT clothing line Charles Lewis passed away in a car accident today. Lewis formed one of the premier MMA clothing lines and began selling out of booths at the side of the road. 

I remember meeting Mask at a UFC a few years back - and while he was definitely wild and boisterous - I believe he genuinely cared about the sport  and did so long before MMA was popular. TapouT was sponsoring and supporting fighters in the early days when there wasn't a lot of money in the sport, and I think that will be one of the legacies he leaves behind. Known better as Mask - and commonly sporting warpaint on his face - Lewis was well known throughout the MMA community.

Back in the old days Lewis would park and set up a make-shift shop at the side of a road near MMA events such as the early King of the Cage events in California and sell gear to fans who drove by and stopped at the side of the road. In fact, in the early days of TapouT, they didn't even own the domain name TapouT.com and instead used inyaface.com because someone else owned the rights to the domain. TapouT is now a multi-million dollar enterprise and even has it's own TV show.

Lewis' presence in MMA will be missed. Rest in Peace Charles.