Mikey Musumeci hailed Dana White’s entry into the grappling world with UFC BJJ as a means to bring order to the sport. He even claimed that this was also a step towards cleaning up the grappling world and discouraging the use of PEDs. However, fans appear to have noticed a troubling pattern when it comes to the UFC BJJ videos on YouTube, asserting that the promotion could be manipulating the view count.

Not too long ago, media outlet BJJDOC revealed a startling report regarding the online engagement on UFC BJJ’s YouTube videos. The first one, UFC BJJ 1, was reported to have had a certain percentage of comments that were bots. Comments like, “Can we all agree this creator deserves more recognition,” and “This deserves way more views. Absolutely underrated,” were being spammed by various users.

Now, an X account named ‘Jack Slack’ reported another unusual pattern on these videos. UFC BJJ 3’s video was posted by Dana White and Co. less than a couple of weeks ago. In the first two hours, the video garnered over 200,000 views. However, nine days later, the views drastically increased to 9 million, which is believed not to be organic.

Moreover, the online traction that these UFC BJJ videos have supposedly gained hasn’t translated into the grappling competitors gaining attention on social media. This makes perfect sense. Specialised combat sports, outside boxing, do not get big numbers. Joe Rogan has been after Dana White for a long time to get him to promote kickboxing. But the UFC boss won’t touch it, and Rogan can’t blame him. He cited Glory Kickboxing’s elite competition and how it does not get the attention it deserves. And if an established set up like Glory can’t get the big numbers, how did UFC BJJ 3 pull it off?

So fans feel there’s something fishy going on in this situation. Here’s what they had to say.

Fans call out Dana White and Co. for manipulating UFC BJJ YouTube numbers

When fans saw the sudden rise in the viewership numbers of UFC BJJ 3’s video, one fan on X immediately said, “That is 100% botted. I don’t believe that the BJJ events are getting the same views as some of the UFC’s biggest stars.” If we take a look at the first two videos, they have just managed to get over a million views. So, fans are not sold on the fact that grapplers can draw the same amount of views as the UFC fighters. Similarly, another fan wrote, “Botted lol.”

There are many ways to get views, and Dana White may have used those means to lift his BJJ programme. One fan suggests the CEO “likely [had] paid ads behind it, counts towards views.” This is the exact opposite of gaining traction online organically. Is Dana White taking the fans for fools? Well, one fan believes that’s the case, as he commented, “Shame on you silly goose.” The 56-year-old just recently gained fans’ trust after putting on some exciting fights for UFC 322, but that trust may soon fade away because one fan wrote, “EVERYTHING IS FAKE!!!”

This observation of the unusual online engagement has led fans to recall what Craig Jones had to say about UFC BJJ. He had mocked the promotion in the past, claiming UFC used “paid ads,” which the fans now believe was warranted. “Then people make fun of craig jones for making fun of this dogs–t,” one fan wrote, sounding off on those who did not side with the Aussie BJJ star at the beginning.

Meanwhile, there was a section of fans who seem to believe that Ilia Topuria, one of UFC’s biggest stars, may have played a part in promoting Dana White’s BJJ promotion. “Ilia shared it on his instagram probably.” This could also be a thinly-veiled dig at the lightweight champion who was under the same accusations earlier this year. He had a drastic follower count increase (roughly 1.2 million) on his Instagram over a matter of mere days.

Well, this is not the first time Dana White has come under fire in the MMA community. But it does make us question the status of his BJJ endeavor. Is it failing? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.