Another week passes, but not without a fight content wrap-up. This week we have content reviews across ONE, boxing, the UFC and the one and only, Mojahed Fudailat.
Anatoliy Malykhin calls out Arjan Singh Bhullar
10-0 Anatoliy Malykhin called out MMA World Champion Arjan Singh Bhullar earlier this week. The video has over 57k views on Instagram; the most Anatoliy has received ever since September. Fighters referring to each other as ‘chicken’ commonly suggest their desired competitor is afraid of them.
Despite this video coming across as exaggerated and cringy to some, it’s an effective start to selling a narrative. This video will likely get the attention of different MMA touchpoints, including meme pages and general news channels, increasing awareness, engagement, and traffic to Malykhin’s profile.
The Paul’s continuing to troll the Fury’s
Next month will see 4-0 Jake Paul take on 7-0 Tommy Fury in Miami. Tyson Fury recently posted an Instagram story to introduce himself as Tommy’s training partner ahead of his upcoming bout. Jake and Logan were reactive to this and decided to make their own parody of the clip. Jake and Tommy are from opposite sides of the Atlantic, meaning there will be differences in how they interpret each other, especially when it comes to trash talk.
Little gimmicks like this may seem childish and harmless, but Jake has efficiently used these moments to promote his fights. For example, stealing Floyd Mayweather’s hat became a monetisation opportunity for Jake and Floyd was continuously asked about it in various interviews, and press conferences post the event.
This moment created by Jake and Logan can be promoted for future occasions, such as when Jake and Tommy eventually meet at a press conference.
Alexander Volkanovski- athlete driven marketing
Alexander Volkanovski has some awesome content on his IG feed. He’s got his own series called “Cooking with Volk” where he creates short video walkthroughs of his favourite recipes.
For Alexander, this is probably great fun as it should be. Although, it’s an important lesson to learn about athlete-driven marketing. The cooking with volk videos is some of Volkanovski’s most engaged/viewed videos on his channel.
The next-gen have never been so enticed into their athlete’s personal interests and hobbies.
There’s never been a better opportunity for athlete’s to capitalise on building a community of super fans through entertaining content like Alexander.
Adesanya fears Alex Pereria
Mojahed is back at it again with the MMA animated parodies, but this time, he’s created one of Israel Adesanya hypothetically reacting to Alex Pereria’s KO in the UFC last weekend.
Alex and Izzy have some history; Pereria had KO’d Adesanya back when they competed in kickboxing. Since Alex signed to the UFC this year, this previous event has been a significant talking point.
Mojahed does what most marketers should do best, creating a reactive narrative out of a minor storyline.
What can’t Canelo live without?
This week, GQ Sports linked up with undisputed champ Canelo Alvarez for a Q&A session. GQ also shot some content with UFC Champ Israel Adesanya a few weeks ago.
What works well with this content is it gives Canelo fans personalised content to consume. Athlete driven marketing has never been more powerful currently. The next generation of sports fans is curious to explore the lives of their favourite stars outside of what they see on their TV screens and digital devices.
Therefore, if you’re a brand representing an athlete or an athlete in the process of building your brand, consider producing content that shines a light outside of your sport and reflects your personality. That way, you’re on your way to building an engaged community.
That’s a wrap! What was your key content insight this week?
Sharing lessons sports professionals can learn through sports content 