Fighters Only Magazine

Fighters Only Magazine launched in February 2005, becoming the world’s first mixed martial arts magazine and multi-channel media source dedicated to the sport.

Fighters Only went on to publish localised language editions in Germany, South Africa and Mexico, as well as wholly owned editions in the US and UK, with the UK edition exported to 31 other countries. It became the last remaining MMA magazine in existence, seeing off competitors including UFC Magazine, which was published under licence by AMI. Despite its relatively low circulation, it remained in publication each month as a testament to the strength of the brand, with its prestige and authority continuing to resonate among fighters and industry professionals.

I was responsible for the marketing of Fighters Only from both B2C and B2B perspectives. The brand had a social media following of more than 1 million connected followers across all channels, dominated by Facebook, which required considerable ongoing management. It also had strong email databases and a digital subscription service delivered through an app, which I was also responsible for managing.