“Over the past several years, UFC President Dana White has transformed the Ultimate Fighting Championship from a violent sideshow into an accepted part of the American sporting mainstream. That image overhaul is thanks in no small part to social media, where the UFC is one of the most successful sports organizations around.
“White himself is a social powerhouse, too, with more than 2.3 million followers on Twitter. (NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, by comparison, has 345,000.) Well over 400 UFC fighters are active on Twitter, and for good reason — in 2011, the league became the first to offer athletes bonuses for outstanding Twitter engagement and creativity. The UFC’s most-followed fighter, Anderson Silva, now has 2.8 million followers.”