UFC's Instagram royalty: Top 3 most followed champions unveiled

UFC fighters are some of the most popular sporting icons on the planet. Unsurprisingly, these athletes boast a substantial fan following on various prominent platforms in this age of social media.

The immense fan following not only helps them raise their fighter profiles but also helps build up their band, driving huge monetary gains. Let's look at the premier promotion's top 3 most followed reigning champions.

The reigning middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, leads the list of UFC's Instagram royalty. 'The Last Stylebender' boasts over eight million followers on Instagram.

The Nigerian-born Kiwi also attracts similar fanfare on other platforms as well. He has over a million subscribers on YouTube and almost two million followers on Twitter.

The next up on the list is heavyweight champion Jon Jones. 'Bones' has 7.8 million Instagram followers. He also shares similar success on Twitter with almost 3 million followers.

The third name on the coveted list is lightweight king Islam Makhachev. The Dagestani enjoys an Instagram following of 6.6 million. Although his Twitter profile hasn't garnered nearly as much attention, it still boasts a respectable 456.8k follower base.

Other champions, including Sean O'Malley, Alexander Volkanovski, and Leon Edwards, also have over a million followers on Instagram, with 3.6, 1.6, and 1.2 million followers, respectively.

---

Who is the most followed UFC fighter on Instagram?

MMA extraordinaire and former two-division champion Conor McGregor is the most followed fighter on Instagram. He boasts almost 47 million followers on the social media platform and is easily the most popular MMA fighter on the planet.

'The Notorious' enjoys a similarly impressive fan base on Twitter, with over 10 million followers. Furthermore, the Irishman's media organization, TheMacLife, has over a million followers on YouTube.

Image courtesy @thenotoriousmma on Instagram

Conor McGregor is 22 and 6 as a professional mixed martial artist and holds wins against numerous top-tier fighters, including the former pound-for-pound king Jose Aldo, former featherweight champion Max Holloway, and former interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier.

Watch McGregor vs. Aldo below:

Although he hasn't stepped inside the octagon since his 2021 leg break at UFC 264, the Dubliner is scheduled to make his MMA return later this year or early 2024 against former Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler.