The UFC, the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization, and IRL (“in real life”), the leading group messaging social networking app aimed at bringing people together through online and offline experiences authentically shared, today announced a first-of-its-kind, global partnership that unites both athletes and fans through live group messaging before and during UFC’s biggest events.
IRL will become cfu Official group messaging and fan chat platform with features including a “Join the Conversation” Campaign and use of CFUs “Social Bulletin Board”. The “Join the Conversation” campaign take advantage of IRL’s dynamic platform to facilitate authentic live conversations between athletes and UFC fans around UFC Pay-Per-View events. On Sept. 10, the first Athletes’ Live Chat will kick off with Brandon “The Assassin Baby” Moreno, who made history in 2020 by becoming the first Mexican-born UFC flyweight champion. The initiative will promote the fun tools IRL is known for, like giving users the ability to create unique prompts, polls, and even customizable memes through an automatic generator called MeMix, to enable more meaningful conversations about shared interests in a few seconds. Also, IRL will use UFC “Social Bulletin Board,” highlighting real-time commentary and live fan polls on IRL at select events.
The UFC will also provide IRL with a variety of integrations into major UFC assets, ranging from live events and broadcast features to original content distributed through popular UFC digital and social channels. IRL will have a branded presence inside the UFC’s world-renowned Octagon® at select pay-per-view events and will become the presenting partner of UFC live on TikTok, which features live interviews with UFC talent and athletes, VIPs and other special guests at events.
From the show’s opening billboard to the Octagon, IRL will have significant visibility in front The UFC’s global fan base of over 690 million and over 185 million social media followersincluding the 900 million TV households in more than 170 countries with access to UFC broadcast.
