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Fans flee? Dana White and the UFC see nearly half a million followers vanish after change
TL;DR
Dana White and the UFC have lost nearly half a million followers on Instagram due to a recent update that removed bots and inactive accounts. This comes as tensions rise between fighters Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland ahead of an upcoming fight night.
Key points
- UFC lost nearly half a million Instagram followers
- Instagram update removed bots and inactive accounts
- Tension between Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland is rising
- Press conference drew more viewers than last four events combined
Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images
A recent update from Instagram has led to several large accounts losing followers, as bots and inactive users were removed from the platform.
With fight night in Newark approaching, Dana White has been keeping an eye on the ongoing tension between Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland.
Even before Chimaevâs outburst toward Strickland, their ongoing issues had already drawn significant attention. The press conference even drew more live viewers than the last four events combined.
While this weekendâs event is expected to pull strong numbers, a new report says that UFC content will no longer be reaching nearly 480,000 Instagram accounts due to those removals.
Photo by Jack Gorman/Getty Images
Instagram removes nearly 400,000 followers from UFC account after a clean-up of fake and inactive profiles
Speaking to Bloody Elbow earlier this year, Cage Warriors president Graham Boylan pointed to social media as the promotionâs biggest learning curve.
No one can deny how important social media has become for promoting fights and events. Still, not every user is actually engaging with the content.
Jed I. Goodman reported on X that the UFCâs Instagram account lost more than 398,000 followers, while Dana White saw a drop of over 81,000. This came after Instagram filtered out fake and inactive accounts.
It wasnât just those two profiles that were affected. Other notable accounts in MMA also saw significant drops in follower numbers.
Khabib Nurmagomedov took the biggest hit among them all, losing over 570,000 followers.
Islam Makhachev reportedly lost more than 75,000 followers while Jon Jonesâs count dropped by about 74,700. The biggest change though was to the official Instagram account itself, which dropped nearly 11 million followers in total.
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Q&A
Why did the UFC lose nearly half a million followers on Instagram?
The loss of followers is attributed to a recent Instagram update that removed bots and inactive accounts from the platform.
What is the current tension between Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland?
The tension escalated following Chimaev's outburst toward Strickland, which has garnered significant media attention ahead of their upcoming fight.
How did the press conference for Chimaev vs. Strickland perform in terms of viewership?
The press conference attracted more live viewers than the last four UFC events combined, highlighting the public interest in the matchup.
