In recent years, MMA has evolved and developed into a hugely successful business model, in the same vein that boxing used to be. This has seen a surge in popularity in the sport, as well as more exposure for fighters. After reforming some of its rules, the UFC became much more mainstream competition and began to dominate pay-per-view.
This seems to show the pinnacle of how far MMA has come over the years, so why is is so popular? Well, there are a few reasons we could look at to explain the rise of MMA around the world. One of the biggest reasons cited for the growth of MMA around the world has been the decline of boxing as a sport.
Heavyweight bouts attracted millions of viewers worldwide and generated hundreds of millions of dollars. Match ups like Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis vs. Vitali Klitschko had boxing fans across the world purring. However, following the retirement of these top fighters, and a greater emphasis on money, boxing has alienated a lot of its audience.
By being active on social media channels and interacting with fans on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook the fighters can connect with the outside world easily and build strong bonds with their fans.
See some Mixed Martial Artist with a huge online community on Instagram here:. MMA is not restricted to a single country or gender. Both men and women can compete and thanks to the different weight classes there are fair chances for everyone.
Also, there are UFC fighters from all over the world. There are several movies promoting MMA. Thanks to those movies, the sport gained even more popularity globally. Heavy promotions and sponsorships. Big organizations like UFC, Bellator or ONE Championship put a lot of marketing effort in popularizing the sport worldwide — and they had success with it! PPV brings in a lot of money and with it heavy promotions for the fighters.
MMA fighters have managed to gather quite a following on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms. They use it to maintain their fan base entertained and up to date with their personal life, as well as future fights. Some of the most popular fighters on Instagram, for example, are Conor McGregor, with 36 million followers; Khabib Nurmagomedov, with 20 million; Ronda Rousey, with 13 million; and Jon Jones with 5 million. Looking at the numbers, it is clear that it is not just football players who are famous on social media.
There has been huge investment going into this sport to make sure it gets the recognition it deserves. UFC has worked with various brands throughout the years to ensure mutual promotion to an international audience.
On top of that, the UFC has also tapped into an area that boxing has failed to, and that is representing women to the same level as men.
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