Botting Allegation Leveled Against Dana White’s UFC BJJ After 9 Million Views for Mikey Musumeci Event

UFC BJJ 3, featuring Mikey Musumeci, gets unnatural view count, which raised doubts about the alleged use of bots by Dana White.

Botting Allegation Leveled Against Dana White’s UFC BJJ After 9 Million Views for Mikey Musumeci Event

Dana White slammed by fans for allegedly using bots to increase views on UFC BJJ 3 event (via X)

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After more than two decades of dominating the MMA industry, Dana White’s UFC has begun expanding into other combat sports. One of the most ambitious ventures is the introduction of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu events, planned as a large-scale expansion in mid-2025. While earlier initiatives like Power Slap drew intense media backlash, UFC’s BJJ concept has similarly sparked waves of public criticism.

On October 2, UFC BJJ 3 was streamed live on the UFC’s YouTube channel, gaining massive attention from global fans. In only eleven days, the video astonishingly reached over 9 million views, making it one of the UFC’s most-watched uploads ever. It now ranks just behind the legendary UFC 229 content, which featured the iconic Conor McGregor versus Khabib Nurmagomedov rivalry.

However, several reports suggested that initial view counts were around 250,000 before suspicious spikes indicated potential artificial bot-based inflation. The controversy intensified as experts pointed out the imbalance between millions of views and only 10,000 corresponding likes, fueling the debate. As a result, there is an ongoing debate surrounding the UFC’s alleged unfair practices in promoting their events.

BJJ has long served as one of the most common foundations for fighters beginning their MMA careers worldwide. Major organizations like IBJJF and ADCC host tournaments, but none match the UFC’s massive global influence, reach, and commercial dominance. Recognizing this untapped potential, Dana White has invested around $10–12 million to establish a new UFC-backed BJJ competition platform.

The new BJJ space features an octagon-style mat with slanted walls and a 10-point system replacing traditional grappling points. Its debut came through a hybrid reality-competition show titled “UFC BJJ: Road to the Title,” which premiered freely on YouTube. The project’s creative vision aimed to blend storytelling and sport, making jiu-jitsu engaging for casual UFC audiences and mainstream sponsors.

At UFC BJJ 3, Mikey Musumeci successfully defended his bantamweight title by submitting Keven Carrasco with his signature inside heel hook. The co-main event featured lightweight champion Carlos Henrique, who retained his title via unanimous decision against Matheus Gabriel. 

Several other notable fighters earned submission and decision victories across the card in an event showcasing elite no-gi grappling talent. However, the recent allegations regarding using bots for views have definitely put UFC in a negative light. 

Fight fans react to UFC’s allegedly using bots to increase views on BJJ event 

Mikey Musumeci is a five-time IBJJF World Champion and has become the face of Dana White’s ambitious new project. After parting ways with ONE Championship in late 2024, he signed an exclusive deal with UFC Fight Pass. His humble personality and elite technical skills perfectly align with White’s vision to present jiu-jitsu as a disciplined, transparent, and PED-free professional sport.

Mike Musumeci at UFC BJJ 3
Mike Musumeci at UFC BJJ 3 (via X)

Globally admired, Musumeci now stands as both the sport’s leading athlete and a bridge connecting traditional BJJ with mainstream MMA audiences. However, following the recent controversy, fans are definitely not happy with UFC.

Mikey Musumeci has also expressed excitement regarding the massive YouTube views UFC BJJ 3 recently received globally. However, he admitted he didn’t fully understand how the views were generated and didn’t place any blame on UFC.

I honestly don’t think the UFC needs to buy views; their reach is huge. But, you know, maybe someone else has reasons to mess with them and boosted those views to make the UFC look bad. That sounds stranger, but to me, that seems more plausible than the UFC doing it themselves.

Mikey Musumeci via The Ariel Helwani Show

Meanwhile, rival promoter Craig Jones, founder of the CJI, has criticized UFC’s inflated viewership numbers as manipulative and harmful. He argued that alleged fake views reduce transparency and mislead promoters about true athlete popularity. 

Jones also accused UFC of copying his “Pit” setup for their BJJ show, fueling an existing feud and intensifying scrutiny of UFC’s broadcast metrics. Till now, Dana White has not addressed the controversy, but it would be interesting to see how things turn out.

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