Tell a friend to tell a friend about these MMA fighters’ YouTube channels

“Thankfully, I think I came just a little bit better, and maybe that means my YouTube channel is a little bit better,” contested Aljamain Sterling at the UFC 288 post-fight press conference.

18 hours after Bruce Buffer yelped out “AND STILL” to a buzzing crowd at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on Saturday May 8, defending bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling posted his first YouTube video since his victorious fight against Henry Cejudo.

“He stepped it up in that second round,” admitted former UFC Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman.

“Yo, he’s smart, dude!” Sterling agreed. The two met back stage amidst the media frenzy awaiting Sterling following the bout that went to decision after five 5-minute rounds. Sterling’s videographer, Jake Fine, followed the champ around as he took in his split decision win.

“I feel good, man: on top of the world right now,” said Sterling.

One short hour later, Henry Cejudo posted his first YouTube video following just his third lost in his professional MMA career.

“This is about me being the best in the world. I’m not here to fucking just start chasing shit, like, you know what I mean? That’s not me, man. That’s not me. I’ve done everything there is to do. I want it all, bro; if I can’t have it all, then I won’t fucking have it at all, you know? That’s how I am. That’s just how I am,” said Cejudo.

Cejudo jokingly, according to his chuckle and smile, threw out the idea of another title shot when talking to his team backstage.

His head coach, Eric Albarracin, who won silver at the Pan American Championships and Military World Wrestling Championships, was offering up a positive spin on the situation. He reminded Cejudo of the endless possibilities the sport of MMA and the UFC organization typically offer.

“If anyone can come off a robbery and turn it into a positive, it’s you man, it’s you. We’re gonna look back at this moment; it’s gonna be the greatest moment in the second half of your career: right here, this moment. You’re going to the top. This ain’t stopping you,” said Albarracin.

That’s when Cejudo contested for another title shot, and his head coach immediately encouraged that idea.

“You can! Anything can happen. Look what just happened with Pereira-Israel Adesanya: immediate. Something happens to Sean O’Malley, you’re in again. Something happens to Aljamain, maybe you’re in again with Sean,” said Albarracin.

Cejudo embraced this idea, but reminded his team he ultimately doesn’t want to change level and aspire for anything less than a title shot.

Meanwhile on Sterling’s channel, the victorious champ wasn’t bogged down by the uncertainness of his future. Rather he was celebrating with fans, friends, and family at The INKwell Harbor Club Rooftop in New York City.

“Nothing is guaranteed in life, but you got to get up and try. Hopefully, I inspired somebody else out there to do the same thing. I come from nothing, from the bottom, all the way to the top. If you don’t respect it, then fuck you. I’ll see you guys later. Thanks for tuning in, baby. Let’s go!” said Sterling.

Sterling posted his first video to his channel “FunkMasterMMA” in 2010. He was one of the OG’s, posting vlogs regularly as early as 2012. Cejudo on the other hand, is a rookie to this whole thing, with his first video being posted almost one year ago in June 2022. Despite this, it is clear that Triple C is more popular in the fight world as he already garnered 100K+ subscribers while Sterling sits right below 60K.

The last decade has seen the takeover of social media as it became the primary marketing tool for companies or individuals to promote their brand—and that includes professional fighters. But in the early days of the UFC, fans didn’t get to experience this abundance of content from their favorite submission or knockout artist. Increasingly now more than ever are fighters creating YouTube channels and posting their own content separate of anything they film for the “Embedded” series or any other professionally filmed content for UFC media.

Some notable fighter channels include: Chael Sonnen, Daniel Cormier, Israel Adesanya, Alexander Volkanovski, Francis Ngannou, Rose Namajunas, and Sean O’Malley.

Even though YouTube has been around since 2005, just over a decade after the UFC’s inception, the general consensus (as often happens once every generation in the media industry) was that it couldn’t be trusted (much like the media thought of the Internet back in 90s).

A quote from a BBC News article dating back to May 2010 expressed this distrusting sentiment clearly:

“Analysts have predicted that while the site has struggled to reach profitability since its creation, 2010 could be its year. Bloomberg News pointed out that the biggest challenge facing YouTube advertising is what makes it so popular - its user generated content. Many advertisers are wary of placing adverts that might run next to videos that might also offend or upset the audience,” Maggie Shells wrote.

YouTubers know all too well the struggles of placing ads on their content. Creators these days joke about the dreaded and (as they proclaim) pee-colored demonization dollar sign next to their video(s). A quote from the 13-year-old article about the murky waters of YouTube advertising still holds true to this day:

“YouTube has been working hard to win over content makers as it modifies its service to stream professional films and cash in on a trend towards internet television,” reads the article.

Another article written by Julia Alexander on polygon.com shared what the advertising landscape on YouTube was looking like just a mere eight years later.

“Instead of ads being randomly placed on videos, YouTube and advertisers would work together to ensure that top ads got placed on specific type of content or creators. That meant if a company like Audi only wanted advertisements placed on family-friendly videos, a large portion of creators could lose out on that potential advertising revenue,” Alexander wrote in 2018.

In this instance, it would be incredibly lucrative for someone in the public eye, who already is watching what they say and do, to play by YouTube’s advertising rules and keep their videos largely appealing to advertisers.

In the most up to date advertising landscape however, companies often now are the ones reaching out to creators. Companies are looking out for channels that pull in tens to hundreds of thousands or millions of views and invite them to do a partnership promoting their product or service. For creators in this boat, it gives them more leeway in just how “family-friendly” their content is.

Fighters seeking other streams of revenue outside of competing in the octagon isn’t a new phenomenon. Back in the day before the luxuries of digital promotions, fighters would sport brand logos on their shorts as a sort of sponsorship. It should come as no surprise that YouTube is replacing the old ways of making side hustle money.

More fighters have been embracing this aspiration to vlog parts of their camp or some other behind the scenes clips while monetizing that content. This is beneficial for betting fans and opponents alike because videos, like the official weigh-in shows, can reveal how a fighter is feeling after their camp and weight cut. YouTube allows them to share their unfiltered opinion sans the pressure of an interviewer to hundreds of thousands if not millions of people.

However, the site that encourages broadcasting yourself wasn’t always seen as a viable career path or money maker—but as the saying goes, good things take time. It would take over a decade after its inception for YouTube to be widely accepted and utilized by main stream media and corporations. Brands use videos to advertise, live-stream events or shows, create shorts, and more.

The successful video sharing site has proven to act as a pipeline between careers. The Paul brothers, for example, got their start on Vine, but built their careers on YouTube. These two content trailblazers used that pipeline to start boxing careers; the two have since fought renowned fighters despite being new to the sport. Here are two newly developed boxers, taking on a side hustle in the intimidating world of sports and athletics. Their fighting peers have begun using that same pipeline to facilitate a side hustle in the saturated world of content creation. They surely can look to one another as rookies, but neither side can deny the clashing of their worlds.

YouTube has become the main factor in many people’s success stories. For fighters, it gives them a second stream of income and another way to engage with their audience on a more personal level. For content creators, it gives them a platform they can take advantage of in pursuit of new endeavors or chasing after that one dream they’ve had all along.