UFC and TikTok enter into a Sports Content Partnership

UFC, the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization, has signed a multi-year deal with TikTok. As per the agreement, UFC will produce live content on the world’s fastest-growing social media platform. UFC and TikTok will officially kick off the partnership this week with content around UFC FIGHT NIGHT: BLAYDES vs. LEWIS on Saturday, February 20, live from UFC APEX in Las Vegas.

According to the company, videos with the #UFC hashtag have been viewed more than 8 billion times since 2019. Given the sport’s popularity among the app, this deal makes a lot of sense as already UFC TikTok account has over 6.3 million followers, making it the third most-followed sports league on the platform partnership now will bring a lot more UFC fans to the app.

“We are thrilled to deepen our partnership with UFC and launch a robust slate of exclusive live content for the TikTok community. Now more than ever, sports fans are craving the up-close-and-personal moments they are missing by not attending live events. Through this partnership, we are excited to bring to TikTok the action and excitement of UFC, both inside and outside the Octagon,” TikTok director, global strategic partnerships, Harish Sarma said.

David Shaw, UFC Senior Vice President of International and content, said, “This partnership with TikTok is a tremendous addition to UFC’s content distribution ecosystem. We want to be everywhere our fans are consuming content, and TikTok continues to break new ground in reaching a diverse, global audience. This collaboration is a great way to drive awareness to our tent pole live events while delivering compelling content to our fans, 24/7.”

The Ultimate Fighting Championship was the first mixed martial arts event by the Ultimate Fighting Championship based in the United States. Recently, people have been more inclined towards the UFC as it steams ahead in terms of popularity. Excitement is what drives their brand.

TikTok is a video-sharing social networking service owned by Chinese company ByteDance. The social media platform is used to make a variety of short-form videos of different genres that have a duration from three seconds to one minute. TikTok saw exponential growth in 2020 with its global audience and currently has an impressive viewership of 80 million daily active Americans.