So there I was in my basement apartment shadow boxing for what seemed like a good amount of time (it turns out it was only a matter of minutes) and then it occurred to me.
MMA is the best sport in the world.
I don’t think there are many other elite sports where the competitors have such an interest in their fans, I don’t think any other sports superstars have a connection with the people that help pay their wage. Sure your big NFL, NBA and MLB teams do signings but this is different.
This is passion.
MMA fighters love what they do and they appreciate their fans even more, I can only imagine how many UFC stars get stopped in the street and asked for a photo, asked to pose for a stare down, asked what it felt like to get knocked out by Anderson Silva. You name it, someone would have asked it. Every time they smile, they take the photo and they appreciate the attention.
MMA is the best sport in the world.
I don’t think there are many other elite sports where the competitors have such an interest in their fans, I don’t think any other sports superstars have a connection with the people that help pay their wage. Sure your big NFL, NBA and MLB teams do signings but this is different.
This is passion.
MMA fighters love what they do and they appreciate their fans even more, I can only imagine how many UFC stars get stopped in the street and asked for a photo, asked to pose for a stare down, asked what it felt like to get knocked out by Anderson Silva. You name it, someone would have asked it. Every time they smile, they take the photo and they appreciate the attention.
For a long time I refused to join Twitter. I thought the idea of it was ridiculous and then I took a peak, I saw that this was one place I could get my MMA fix from my phone on the go or on my computer in the comfort of my home. I was addicted, there is so much information flying out there and so much I have learnt about the idols I watch inside the octagon.
So I thought to myself who are the top people to follow on Twitter if you are a fan of the UFC, of course there is the obvious like Dana White @danawhite and MMA Junkie @mmajunkie but what about the fighters, if I was to recommend that you follow someone who would it be?
And that’s when I came up with my top 5 follows.
5. Ryan Bader @ryanbader
So I thought to myself who are the top people to follow on Twitter if you are a fan of the UFC, of course there is the obvious like Dana White @danawhite and MMA Junkie @mmajunkie but what about the fighters, if I was to recommend that you follow someone who would it be?
And that’s when I came up with my top 5 follows.
5. Ryan Bader @ryanbader
4. Matt Mitrione @mattmitrione
The #pushups do it. Matt is down to earth, he’s funny and he’s generous. Lucky followers of Matt even managed to get themselves some free UFC tickets for the sold out Toronto blockbuster by following him on twitter. Matt gives the updates we want to hear, interacts quite well (and often humorously) with other fighters. Follow Matt for some fun and any updates for this newly crowned (unofficial) ambassador for the UFC.
3. Mark Hominick @MarkHominick
To start things off it was a pretty hard choice, I thought about putting in a certain light heavyweight champion who is on the up and up but then I saw Mark in my timeline. This guy has just come off one hell of a fight at the biggest UFC event to date and still has the decency to tweet back to his fans. Mark has a child on the way and still manages to spend time communicating with the MMA community. He’s going to be one hell of a star soon so be sure to follow now before you get lost in the masses.
Kenny is a two part package deal. Getting up to date on what the TUF 1 competitor is doing with his career is great but the real reason to follow Kenny is because you will no doubt be following Godfrey James @kenfloassistant as well. Their banter is hilarious and his tweets on their own even without a reaction from Kenny will make you chuckle on those boring days when nothing is happening in the twitterverse. Of Course Kenny isn’t for everyone, but hey, he’s on TV (not just for fightin’ either!) So he does have a lot of interesting things to say and whether he is talking back to the haters or falling victim to harassment from Godfrey it’s worth a read no matter what time of the day it is.
1. Wanderlei Silva @wandfc
Wandy loves his fans, or friends as he likes to call them. After spending time in my introduction talking about just how different MMA is to any other sport Wanderlei really hit’s the nail on the head. This guy loves his friends, he loves to use twitter and he will try his damndest to retweet for every single one of his friends. A warning for some before you click “follow” Wanderlei tweets a lot so if you are worried about having a lot of tweets in your timeline he may not be the right person to follow; I on the other hand love it, sometimes I can’t understand it because it’s in Portuguese but most of the time Wanderlei has something exciting or interesting to post. Wanderlei is the epitome of what the sport is about and even if you don’t like to watch him fight you will love to see his tweets, he’s funny, genuine and down to earth and if you aren’t following Wanderlei you aren’t following MMA.
3. Mark Hominick @MarkHominick
To start things off it was a pretty hard choice, I thought about putting in a certain light heavyweight champion who is on the up and up but then I saw Mark in my timeline. This guy has just come off one hell of a fight at the biggest UFC event to date and still has the decency to tweet back to his fans. Mark has a child on the way and still manages to spend time communicating with the MMA community. He’s going to be one hell of a star soon so be sure to follow now before you get lost in the masses.
2. Kenny Florian @kennyflorian
Kenny is a two part package deal. Getting up to date on what the TUF 1 competitor is doing with his career is great but the real reason to follow Kenny is because you will no doubt be following Godfrey James @kenfloassistant as well. Their banter is hilarious and his tweets on their own even without a reaction from Kenny will make you chuckle on those boring days when nothing is happening in the twitterverse. Of Course Kenny isn’t for everyone, but hey, he’s on TV (not just for fightin’ either!) So he does have a lot of interesting things to say and whether he is talking back to the haters or falling victim to harassment from Godfrey it’s worth a read no matter what time of the day it is.Wandy loves his fans, or friends as he likes to call them. After spending time in my introduction talking about just how different MMA is to any other sport Wanderlei really hit’s the nail on the head. This guy loves his friends, he loves to use twitter and he will try his damndest to retweet for every single one of his friends. A warning for some before you click “follow” Wanderlei tweets a lot so if you are worried about having a lot of tweets in your timeline he may not be the right person to follow; I on the other hand love it, sometimes I can’t understand it because it’s in Portuguese but most of the time Wanderlei has something exciting or interesting to post. Wanderlei is the epitome of what the sport is about and even if you don’t like to watch him fight you will love to see his tweets, he’s funny, genuine and down to earth and if you aren’t following Wanderlei you aren’t following MMA.
No comments:
Post a Comment