Late January saw The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) teamed up with Dapper Labs to launch ‘UFC Strike’: a collection of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) which include 100,000 ‘Fully Loaded’ packs that consist of three notable UFC/NFT moments.
The first drop came on 23 January and the second on 31 January and the moments capture virtual versions of incredible displays of striking and grappling from elite UFC fighters – including Francis Ngannou, Amanda Nunes, Kamaru Usman, Rose Namajunas, Derrick Lewis and Justin Gaethje – shot from multiple camera angles and featuring commentary and crowd response.
#OwnTheGlory with @UFCStrikeNFT
Officially Licensed @UFC video NFTs by @DapperLabs
Built on the @flow_blockchain
Packs dropping Sunday at 11AM PThttps://t.co/GbicCmIMkA pic.twitter.com/hV3lsXYAMS— UFC Strike (@UFCStrikeNFT) January 20, 2022
The rarest Moments available in @UFCStrikeNFT Packs: Champion Tier
With unmissable gold-trim design, Champion Tier Moments all feature current or former @ufc champions.
Here’s a look at some of the Moments available in Sunday’s Pack Drop. #OwnTheGlory pic.twitter.com/8ILSAt6jUU
— UFC Strike (@UFCStrikeNFT) January 20, 2022
.@francis_ngannou landing one of the most devastating uppercuts in @ufc history against Alistair Overeem
(Sound On ) pic.twitter.com/dmVCRwqaku
— UFC Strike (@UFCStrikeNFT) January 20, 2022
To access the drop, fans simply will need to visit UFC Strike’s dedicated website where they will be able to join the queue for a chance to buy a pack at $50 (£37) each including three tokens with virtual versions of some of the UFC’s most memorable fights.
Further pack drops will take place in line with key events in the UFC calendar in the coming months, while ‘UFC Strike’ will also feature a peer-to-peer marketplace for fans to connect, buy and sell their moments in the future, while the UFC and Dapper Labs will split profits with the athletes on a 50-50 basis.
“Dapper Labs is an innovator in this field, creating an industry that didn’t exist a few years ago. Their vision for the potential of these products is the reason UFC chose Dapper Labs as its first NFT partner,” explained UFC Senior Vice President of Global Consumer Products Tracey Bleczinski. “We’re thrilled to finally be able to offer these amazing digital collectibles to enrich the UFC experience for our fans.”
“This is something that our young fan base clearly enjoys and identifies with, so I think there’s a lot of overlap with the younger UFC fan and those who are interested in collecting these NFT products,” added UFC COO Lawrence Epstein. “The thing that’s exciting about this, too, is that it signals sort of an investment in the UFC in the sense that, somebody buys an NFT, they’re probably going to hold onto it for awhile or trade it and buy other ones. You’re creating a longer term relationship with that consumer as opposed to a single transaction of buying a pay-per-view or even going to an event. This is a longer term relationship we think that fans are entering into with us that is really exciting, really valuable. People like to have assets that they can hold and touch and carry around with them, but in our modern world, they also enjoy having these digital assets on their phones and having their entire inventory with them in their pockets.”
Caty Tedman, Head of Partnerships at Dapper Labs, added, “Dapper Labs has accelerated the move to Web3 by building new apps and platforms that enable great user experiences for millions of fans. Partnering with UFC, one of the fastest growing sports in the world, with a global fan base of more than 625m people, is the next step to bringing even more into experiencing the benefits of decentralisation while also delivering a meaningful experience for die-hard UFC fans to collect and own the moments that matter to them.”
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Dapper Labs also collaborated with the NBA on the ‘NBA Top Shot’ NFT collection and with the NFL on the ‘NFL All Day’ NFT marketplaces.
The modern version of collecting sports trading cards (except a digital video rather than a physical still image), virtual art or merely the latest sports tech craze?
You decide?
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