Adam Swift of MMA Payout thinks the motorcycle company qualifies as the first blue chip sponsor. To wit:
The other major headline of the night was Harley-Davidson taking the center of the octagon mat. The sponsorship is the company's biggest breakthrough with mainstream sponsors to date and may be a harbinger of things to come. White recently told Michael Eisner on CNBC that the company expected to land its first blue chip sponsors in the coming months, of which Harley-Davidson certainly fits the bill. The company's arrival helped push Xyience off the mat and onto a corner pad.
The sooner Xyience is gone the better, but I'd actually say this isn't the first blue chip sponsor the UFC has had. I recall during one of the UFCs in the 40 range (I think it was UFC 44 specifically), Miller Lite was the chief sponsor and took center of the Ocatgon space. In fact, my hunch is that Mickey's "fine" malt liquor (a contradiction in terms if there ever was one) gets huge play because they are actually owned by the Miller Brewing Company. In other words, Miller Lite probably didn't want to associate their name with such a speculative product, so they saddled up their malt liquor line instead. The UFC probably wanted to cement any sort of relationship they could with such a big company, so viola, here we are: the Mickey's Instant Replay.
As for Harley Davidson, I'm all for the relationship as long as they change that MORONIC tag line: "Harley Davidson, the only motorcycle worthy of being in the Octagon". Seriously, the dumb motherfucker who came up with that tag line needs to be taken out back and beaten with a blunt object.