Almost two years after the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Dapper Labs inked a licensing agreement, the best moments from the UFC octagon are officially set to become NFTs on the Flow blockchain. On January 20, Dapper Labs — the creators of NBA Top Shot — announced UFC Strike, the new home of officially licensed UFC digital collectibles.
UFC Strike will launch with its first pack drop on January 23, following “a big push” at UFC 270 from Dana White and fighters.
Like Top Shot for the NBA, UFC Strike’s digital collectibles, called Moments, will highlight the best of the best from UFC fights, from knockouts to rear-naked chokes, with three Moments in each pack in the first drop.
To get ready for the first pack drop, you can create a Dapper account on the UFC Strike official website.
When Does UFC Strike Launch?
UFC Strike will launch on January 23 with its first pack drop, just one day after UFC 270: Ngannou vs. Gane, the pay-per-view heavyweight championship event. The pack drop is publicly open to all users with a Dapper Labs account.
This first pack in particular will highlight the best UFC highlights from 2021. After this drop, you can expect UFC Strike packs to drop around UFC headline events, likely heavily promoted during those events.
UFC Strike Fully Loaded Pack Drop Details
The UFC Strike genesis drop — “Fully Loaded” — includes “the most memorable moments ever seen in the Octagon.” Each pack in this drop will have three NFT Moments. There will be 35 unique Moments in total in these packs.
Date: Sunday, January 23, 2022
Time: 2 p.m. EST (Queue starts)
Price: $50 (Dapper balance or credit card)
Supply: 100,000 packs, 5 packs max. per person, 1 per transaction
All packs in this drop will have a .375% chance to include a Champion Moment — the top tier of UFC Strike Moments. Champion Moments will have a max supply of 75. If the packs sellout, UFC Strike will take in $5 million in revenue from its first drop, with another pack drop slated for January 31.
Fighters on UFC Strike
So far, we know of a few iconic fighters guaranteed to be in these packs, with many more surely to be in the first Fully Loaded packs.
- Francis Ngannou
- Amanda Nunes
- Kamaru Usman
- Rose Namajunas
- Derrick Lewis
- Justin Gaethje
- Deiveson Figueiredo
Follow Shot Talkin’ on Twitter for the latest updates on UFC Strike pack drops, as well as other Dapper Labs sports NFTs.
Commentary on UFC Strike Moments
If you watch UFC, you know that each major UFC event is a piece of history. And it wouldn’t be the same without the energy from the commentators — like Joe Rogan — and the crowd.
For the first time on a Dapper Labs product, commentary and crowd noise will be included as part of Moments.
“With robust audio and video content, each UFC Strike Moment NFT is designed to capture, memorialize and celebrate a specific instance of UFC history,” the official UFC release said.
Utility for UFC Strike Moments
According to UFC Strike, a peer-to-peer marketplace will open “shortly after” the first pack drop within the official UFC Strike website. This means you will be able to buy and sell your Moments. Collectors can expect an update on the exact timing of the new marketplace soon after the first drop.
It’s not currently known if the UFC packs will be able to be on-chain or sold in the marketplace when it opens, as we are expecting for NFL All Day.
According to Dapper Labs head of partnerships Caty Tedman, Dapper is also looking into live activations at future UFC events — similar to the Top Shot suite or the minting kiosk at NBA Summer League. It seems likely the UFC Strike will be front and center on the pay-per-view productions of UFC events.
Dapper Labs is also looking into ways to gamify UFC Strike — challenges, anyone?
Revenue Split for UFC Fighters
Francis Ngannou, who will defend his heavyweight title on Saturday night, already appears on the UFC Strike home page, but he’ll also be a brand ambassador for UFC Strike and Dapper. Ngannou has already shown to be a supporter of crypto, as he’s slated to take half of his UFC 270 prize purse in Bitcoin via Cash App in a massive promotion for the app.
In addition to Ngannou, UFC Strike plans to “connect and build partnerships with more individual UFC athletes in the future.” And every fighter will reap the rewards of their NFTs on UFC Strike.
According to the UFC, fighters will receive 50 percent of the UFC’s share of revenue from primary and secondary market NFT sales on UFC Strike, in perpetuity. This means that of the revenue generated, UFC will keep 50 percent, and both fighters could hypothetically receive 25 percent each.
This partnership extends UFC’s reach into crypto audiences, as the leader in MMA already has a major partnership with Crypto.com.
Follow Shot Talkin’ on Twitter for the latest updates on all things UFC Strike, including pack drop news. You can also join the UFC Strike Discord to keep up on the latest.
Follow Christian Hardy on Twitter for more NFT musings.