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The latest trend in speculative buying, NFT (non-fungible token), has found a solid market in the world of sports. Along with NBA, UFC is one of the first few organizations in the sports industry to get on the NFT bandwagon.
In early 2020, UFC announced its licensing partnership with one of the world's most successful consumer blockchain experts, Dapper Labs.
The partnership will provide the fans of the world's premier MMA promotion exclusive opportunities to buy, own, and sell UFC-branded digital collectibles on blockchain in real-time.
With the trend of NFT trade spreading like wildfire in the sports world and especially MMA, a number of UFC stars have seized the opportunity to launch their own NFT collections.
In this article, we take a look at three UFC stars who are at the forefront of the NFT craze.
#3 - Cris Cyborg
Cris Cyborg (23-2-0, 1 NC) is one of the most decorated female MMA stars ever. She is a former featherweight champion with MMA promotions like UFC, Strikeforce, Invicta FC, and the current world champion at Bellator.
Cyborg became perhaps the first MMA fighter to indugle in NFT trading.
Cris Cyborg has actively participated in CryptoCurrency and Blockchain technology for some time, and she frequently tweets about the same.
In 2018, Cyborg collaborated with a CryptoCurrency company called PIVX.
She had two NFTs that are already sold out. - "Cyborg Ready" priced at $10 and "Cyborg Victorious" priced at $500.
Cris Cyborg faced the UFC women's featherweight and bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes at UFC 232. The superfight ended in 51 seconds of the first round, with Nunes handing Cyborg the first knockout defeat of her MMA career.
#2 - Francis Ngannou
One of the very first UFC fighters at the forefront of the NFT craze is the newly crowned heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou. Partnering up with BossLogic, The Predator created a series of four NFTs, the highest-priced of which was sold for a whopping $284,000!
Francis Ngannoureleased NFTs are called The Heavy, The Uncrowned, Crowned, and the Crowned King,
Francis Ngannou announced the sale of his first NFT on his Instagram on March 30. Mentioning he is the first UFC athlete to release an NFT, he wrote, "Thank you to all my fans who participated and bought my first NFT. This is a special moment for me and my foundation to be the first UFC athlete ever to release an NFT."
Reportedly, the total bidding of all of Francis Ngannou's NFTs raised well over half-million dollars ($581,000), an amount that is higher than the purse ($500,000) he earned for defeating Stipe Miocic at UFC 259.
While the reports are not believed to be completely true, the funds go to the Francis Ngannou Foundation.
The NFT sold-off for $284,000 came along with a fan package. The Francis Ngannou NFT included two fight tickets to The Predator's next bout, along with a pair of autographed gloves.
Francis Ngannou won the UFC heavyweight title after defeating Stipe Miocic at UFC 260 in March 2021. One of the deadliest knockout-artists in MMA, Francis Ngannou (16-3-0) has a real-life rags-to-riches story.
#1 - Khabib Nurmagomedov
Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov came out with his own NFT in March 2021, becoming one of the very few UFC fighters to get on the NFT bandwagon at the time. Khabib released three types of NFT cards - gold, platinum, and diamond.
Khabib Nurmagomedov announced the move on his social media in March 2021, writing, "Special Announcement. I am proudly presenting my own NFT collection of unique digital cards. Checkout DigitalKhabib.com for more info!"
Khabib fans can check out his NFT collectibles here.
The Gold card has 290 pieces and the Platinum card has 29 units. The Diamond card is the rarest of all of Khabib's NFT collection, as it will only be available to one lucky buyer. Buying the Diamond NFT card offers the buyers a chance to meet The Eagle in person, among other gifts.
Khabib Nurmagomedov NFT cards are said to commemorate The Eagle's MMA career and will have unlockable content inside, discoverable only to the buyers.
Khabib Nurmagomedov retired from MMA in October 2020 after defeating Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. He amassed an impressive professional record of 29-0.
After retiring from MMA, Khabib Nurmagomegov is now focussing on coaching his team and a few other UFC fighters. At UFC 259, coach Khabib made his debut as a cornerman for his teammate, Islam Makhachev.
