Fighters belonging to the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Strikeforce are being encouraged to take to Twitter to build their fan base. As an incentive bonuses of $5000 are going to be handed out to a tune of $240,000 in the next year.
UFC President Dana White made the announcement offering bonuses for increasing followers and for creative Tweeting.
The Summit offers fighters seminars on the new insurance policy, fighter safety (cutting weight, steroids, concussions, taxes, gambling, merchandising, social media, and more.
MMAFighting.com offered a quick summary of the UFC’s new incentive.
Starting June 1, UFC and Strikeforce fighters will be divided into four categories, based on how many Twitter followers they currently have. At the end of each quarter, three fighters from each category will be awarded a $5,000 bonus. The three winners will be based on who has gained the most followers since the start of the quarter, who gained the highest percentage of new followers and who wrote the most creative tweets. White will be the judge of the last category.
The UFC has taken quite the stance on social media concerning its fighters when compared to other major leagues such as the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL. Those leagues look to clamp down on their players from making embarrassing remarks, the UFC is encouraging theirs to reach out to fans. Fighters are already Tweeting between rounds of their fights and will now be rewarded for it.
If your interested in finding a list of UFC fighters on Twitter, check out @ufc/fighters on Twitter for an extensive list of your favorite, or not so favorite fighters.