Were the Engagement & Views For UFC BJJ 1 Inflated?

UFC BJJ 1 Numbers Inflated? 

Last week, the UFC BJJ 1 went down, and the UFC recently released the numbers for their inaugural Jiu-Jitsu event. According to the UFC brass, the stream earned an estimated 1.3 million views, over 1000 comments, and numerous shares.

If you take the numbers at face value, it was a great debut for them. However, some fans were thinking some tomfoolery was afoot.

BJJDoc did some digging, and the numbers of the event were not what they seemed.

Bot Comments

Let’s first take a look at the comment section of the UFC BJJ 1 stream. From the time that the data was taken, there were 913 comments. Of those 913 comments, 173 were automated bots posting similar comments. That’s nearly 20% of the overall comments being bots.

Here’s a list of comments that were repeated multiple times, and screenshots posted below them

• “Can we all agree this creator deserves more recognition” 16
• “This deserves way more views. Absolutely underrated” 15
• “I learned more in 10 minutes than hours of Googling” 13
• “This video randomly popped up and I’m glad it did” 12
• “Came for the thumbnail, stayed for the vibes” 12
• “This is going straight into my favorites playlist” 11
• “Algorithm finally did something right” 11
• “You just earned a new subscriber” 11
• “I’ve had this on repeat all day” 10
• “Who else is here before this blows up” 10
• “This gave me chills… in the best way” 9
• “Mood instantly lifted. Thank you for this” 8
• “That transition at 3:12 was chefs kiss” 8
• “I didn’t expect to love this as much as I do” 8
• “The editing is top-tier. Seriously impressive”  8
• “Pure talent. No words” 7
• “I can’t stop smiling watching this” 7
• “Thank you for this video, very enlightening!” 7
• “That part at 2:45 Instant goosebumps” 6
• “Your consistency is inspiring—keep going” 4

Inflated View Numbers 

Now, for UFC BJJ 1 viewing, they are claiming a total of 1.3 million. For a first event, these numbers would be a success and near what CJI 1 earned.

However, if you look at the graph of views, there is no change for seven days after the event. For seven days, the number of views doesn’t rise or drop. They stay exactly the same, which is mathematically impossible.

Competitor Follower Accounts

Now, let’s look at the number of followers that the UFC BJJ 1 athletes earned after the competition. Andrew Tackett, who had the match of the year in 2024 at CJI 1 earned over 5 figures in followers after the event.

After UFC BJJ 1, Tackett only earned 1,915 new followers after he won the title.

Here’s how many followers the UFC BJJ 1 athletes earned after the event.

• Mikey Musumeci: 3,600 followers for his submission win, plus 3,400 the day before due to UFC promotional posts
• Andrew Tackett: 1,915 followers overnight
• Bella Mir: 268 Instagram followers
• Danilo Moreira: 350 followers 
• Talita Alencar: 300 followers
• Keith Krikorian: 299 followers
• Andy Varela: 463 followers

What’s the Issue?

It is good that the UFC BJJ 1 event happened, and now Jiu-Jitsu athletes have another place where they can try to earn money. However, if the UFC is inflating the numbers, are they actually growing the sport? 

If the UFC did inflate the numbers, we hope that it was to try to get more sponsors for future events. However, if the growth isn’t natural, are they really elevating the sport or just making a quick buck off it? 

Only time will tell, and we hope the next event will be bigger than UFC BJJ 1.
Credit again to BJJDoc for initially coming out with the story.