UFC: The Ultimate Fighter Live’s Social Media Efforts Greatly Help Spotify

Streaming music service Spotify might want to call the UFC to help in future marketing campaigns, with the No. 1 MMA promotion conducting the most successful Spotify effort ever, according to tech site Mashable. The UFC asked fans to help pick the walk…

Streaming music service Spotify might want to call the UFC to help in future marketing campaigns, with the No. 1 MMA promotion conducting the most successful Spotify effort ever, according to tech site Mashable.

The UFC asked fans to help pick the walkout music for The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 15 live finale, which was won by Mike Chiesa. Neither company wanted to publicly disclose how many votes were cast, but Spotify mentioned it was “about four times as many votes as any previous campaign” hosted by Spotify.

“UFC and music are quite synonymous because of the walkout music,” according to Graham James, Spotify spokesman.  “They were going to fans where they live and breathe on Facebook and using music – a medium they could relate to.”

UFC President Dana White and the UFC utilize social media to help increase the company’s brand value and exposure, more than 8.7 million likes on the UFC Facebook page. The official UFC Twitter account has almost 650,000 followers, while Dana White’s Twitter account has more than two million followers.

White also frequently chats—and debates—with MMA fans courageous enough to attack him via the popular social networking site. He also sometimes makes public announcements via Twitter, giving fans firsthand knowledge of potential fights.

Spotify has held similar social efforts with Subaru, Gillette and Universal Pictures and will continue reaching out to corporate America. However, the music service may want to ping the UFC to host a similar effort in the future, after the great success of TUF Live.

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Cesar Gracie Says Nick and Nate Diaz Will Compete at Gracie Open BJJ Tournament

Nick and Nate Diaz will compete at the Gracie Open on August 4, according to their longtime BJJ coach, Cesar Gracie. Fans wishing to attend will have to pay a small fee, but the event will be streamed live on the Internet for free. Both brothers are fa…

Nick and Nate Diaz will compete at the Gracie Open on August 4, according to their longtime BJJ coach, Cesar Gracie.

Fans wishing to attend will have to pay a small fee, but the event will be streamed live on the Internet for free.

Both brothers are familiar faces during the Gracie Open tournament, as Nate won a super fight against Matt Darcy at the Gracie Open event in 2011.

The elder Diaz was supposed to compete against BJJ superstar Braulio Estima during the World Jiu-Jitsu Expo last month, but never showed up for the scheduled match. Diaz reportedly refused to compete in the BJJ superfight due to Estima’s weigh-ins, angering BJJ fans looking forward to seeing the MMA superstar compete against an elite-level grappler.

Since this is a Gracie BJJ event—and both brothers have competed in the past—it seems less likely Nick will try to no-show the event. Nate is a contender in the UFC lightweight division, while Nick retired—and is suspended—while competing in triathlons and BJJ tournaments.

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Jeff Monson Added to Upcoming M-1 Fight Card in Russia

The Russian-based M-1 Global fight promotion recently added several new fights to its upcoming fight card, which will be held on Thursday, June 21 in St. Petersburg, Russia. American heavyweight submission fighter Jeff Monson, currently on a three-figh…

The Russian-based M-1 Global fight promotion recently added several new fights to its upcoming fight card, which will be held on Thursday, June 21 in St. Petersburg, Russia.

American heavyweight submission fighter Jeff Monson, currently on a three-fight win streak, will fight Denis Komkin on the main card. 

Komkin is a Russian fighter based in St. Petersburg and has lost three of his last five fights, dating back to 2009. Monson should be able to utilize his skilled submission grappling background to keep Komkin under control en route to a submission win or unanimous decision.

In addition, there will be a heavyweight championship match between Guram Gugenishvili and Kenny Garner.

Gugenishvili, a submission expert, was able to lock in a guillotine choke submission to force Garner to tap during their main event M-1 fight in October 2010. Since that victory, Gugenishvili has fought just one time, while Garner remained active and picked up four straight victories. 

The main event of the fight card will be Russian heavyweight legend Fedor Emelianenko fighting Pedro Rizzo.

There are rumors Emelianenko plans to announce his retirement after the fight, and will focus on training Russia’s next generation of sambo and MMA fighters. However, the former PRIDE heavyweight champion said nothing is confirmed.

Here is the full fight card:

  • Fedor Emelianenko vs. Pedro Rizzo
  • Lightweight Championship: Daniel Weichel (c) vs. Musa Khamanaev
  • Heavyweight Championship: Guram Gugenishvili (c) vs. Kenny Garner
  • Jeff Monson vs. Denis Komkin
  • Mairbek Taisumov vs. Marat Gafurov
  • Mikhail Malyutin vs. Bakhtiyar Arzumanov
  • Jerome Bouisson vs. Vugar Bakhshiev
  • Pavel Vitruk vs. Radoslaw Piechnik
  • Akhmed Sultanov vs. Denis Goltsov

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Bradley Shows Up to Press Conference in Wheelchair, Suffered Fractured Left Foot

Tim Bradley won the biggest fight of his career last night, when he was awarded a split decision against Manny Pacquiao during their main event fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Apparently, he fought most of the fight extremely banged up, a…

Tim Bradley won the biggest fight of his career last night, when he was awarded a split decision against Manny Pacquiao during their main event fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Apparently, he fought most of the fight extremely banged up, and his performance may have…suffered?  Bradley showed up in a wheelchair during the post-fight press conference, and it was reported he fought on two injured ankles.

Instead, it looks like he fought on two bad feet.

Bradley’s manager, Cameron Dunkin, said the fighter has a left foot fracture, with his right foot also enduring a lot of swelling during the fight.  Bradley reportedly suffered the fracture in the second round, and his right foot was injured during the fifth round. 

The credibility of boxing, already seen as a dying sport among MMA enthusiasts, crashed and burned when the judges’ scorecards were read last night: 115-113, 113-115 and 115-113.

A potential rematch is likely on November 10, with Pacquiao already expected to come out more aggressively in the fight. 

Meanwhile, the superfight between Floyd Mayweather and Pacquiao could still be arranged. But that admittedly lost significant appeal after last night’s decision. 

The outrage and fallout from the decision was felt in both boxing and MMA, but other sports stars and celebrities sounded off about the controversial decision. As pointed out by Matthew Roth, the scoring controversy has no effect on MMA, even though our beloved sport continues to deal with downright wrong judging issues.

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UFC Has Fight Matchup Potential Following Mike Pyle’s Destruction of Josh Neer

Mike Pyle provided a devastating finish to his welterweight showdown with Josh Neer last night, knocking out his opponent in the first round. The win also helped him collect a cool $40,000 “KO of the Night” bonus, as was witnessed live on F…

Mike Pyle provided a devastating finish to his welterweight showdown with Josh Neer last night, knocking out his opponent in the first round.

The win also helped him collect a cool $40,000 “KO of the Night” bonus, as was witnessed live on FX.

Pyle, a 36-year-old and clear MMA veteran, has revealed that he still has plenty to fight for, even after 13 years in active MMA.

Not likely to become champion before his career eventually draws to a close, he can still be a tough opponent for the best in the UFC welterweight division. 

“I came in and did what I needed to do,” Pyle said in an interview with MMAjunkie. “Josh is a hard guy to put away, and I knocked him out cold. That makes a statement to the welterweight division and to myself.”

In an already cluttered welterweight division, Pyle’s recent resurgence gives UFC matchmaker Joe Silva yet another piece of the puzzle to work with. Pyle has knockout power, despite being tagged by Neer and electing to slug it out with The Dentist.

When the fight hit the ground, Pyle was able to use his strong grappling base to survive through Neer’s submission attempts. 

So, we ask: What’s next for Pyle?

A welterweight showdown with Dan Hardy wouldn’t be a horrible matchup, even though Pyle is higher in the rankings now. Hardy, fresh off a UFC career-saving performance against Duane Ludwig at UFC 146, would try and engage in a complete slugfest.    

As Sean mentioned in his post-fight matchmaking story, the UFC would be able to market a Pyle vs. Mike Pierce fight. Both fighters have shown they can adapt and force opponents to leave behind their game plan—and Pierce will have to avoid danger for 15 minutes if he wants to try and grind out a victory.  The winner will be that much closer to being ranked in the top 10.

Winner of Brian Ebersole and TJ Waldburger: The matchup takes place at UFC on FX 4 later this month, and the winner could be a good fight for Pyle. It’d be especially fun on another free card on FX.

There is a growing movement to book a Pyle vs. Erick Silva fight later this year, but I just don’t see this as a good matchup. Silva is on a tear through the UFC at the moment, and ruining Pyle’s recent momentum could damage other future matchups.

There are a lot of possibilities with Pyle, and it should be fun to see what the UFC decides to do.

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