By Frank Bonada
The International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) today announced that the 2023 IMMAF World Championships, held in Tirana, Albania, the 2023 European City of Sport, broke records across the board in terms of digital viewership.
Taking place from the 20th to the 25th of November, the 2023 IMMAF World Championships showcased the most promising stars in mixed martial arts competing for highly coveted IMMAF medals and ranking points.
The IMMAF social media channels and the IMMAF.TV streaming platform generated more than 5.3 million views collectively, smashing the record previously set during the 2022 World Championships.
Social media impressions for the 2023 World Championships soared past the 8 million mark, an increase of 22% compared to the previous record set during the 2022 World Championships.
In particular, the IMMAF Instagram channel experienced record-levels of viewership with over 4.5 million views, a monumental increase of 3.5 million views when compared to the 2022 IMMAF World Championships. As a by-product, Instagram follower growth was 42% higher than the last World Championships.
The IMMAF platform is regarded globally as a pathway to ‘Where Stars Are Born’, and the 2023 IMMAF World Championships continued that decade-strong legacy, with the emergence of many new international prospects including Belgium’s Patrick Habirora.
After falling short in two previous IMMAF Championships, the enigmatic welterweight finally claimed gold in 2023, providing several viral moments along the way. Habirora’s gold medal-winning knockout surpassed 535,000 views across all social media platforms, with the welterweight world champion generating more than 1 million views throughout the entire Championships.
The popularity of Patrick Habirora, alongside the high-flying national teams of Belgium and France, set record viewership for those regions on the IMMAF.TV streaming platform.
IMMAF closes out the 2023 season with the Asian Championships, which will take place in Manama, the Kingdom of Bahrain from the 10–16 December as part of BRAVE International Combat Week. The Championships will feature categories across Senior, Junior and Youth levels with all the MMA action being streamed live on IMMAF.TV.
