Social Mixer 2024 Singapore
marketing interactive Content360 Singapore 2024 Content360 Singapore 2024
Mixed martial arts entertainment company celebrates unofficial Chinese VDay with athletes fighting

Mixed martial arts entertainment company celebrates unofficial Chinese VDay with athletes fighting

share on

 In China, 20 May is an unofficial Valentine’s Day. Deemed as 520 when spoken in Chinese, the number has a phonetic connection to the phrase “I Love You”. As such, men take this opportune date to express love to their crushes, girlfriends or wives.

Taking a twist on 520, Singaporean mixed martial arts (MMA) sports entertainment company Rebel Fighting Championship has dropped a video featuring its athletes taking on the fight challenge. These fighters filmed themselves for the 46 seconds long spot while quarantined at home in Asia, Europe, North and South America. Inspired by the female fight challenge viral video by Hollywood stuntwomen and A-list actors, Rebel too rolled out its own “fightainment” content. Rebel also aims to encourage millions of stay-at-home MMA fans and followers around the world to jump on the trend as well.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1911222562345684

Rebel FC, similar to several sports events globally, have had to cancel and postpone some of its events. However, Rebel’s CEO Justin Leong is confident for a return to live events in the second half of the year in Greater China. Currently, China market is big for Rebel FC. In a PwC study commissioned by Rebel, the company found that there are 300 million martial arts fans, around 60-80 million martial arts practitioners and 19.9% of Chinese TV viewers liked martial arts programmes. China is the birthplace of martial arts, hence it is also culturally and historically relevant for Rebel FC to operate in the country, Leong said. 

According to Leong, the last few months have been tough for all involved in the fight sports with the cancellation of events and filming this video from different countries and timezones during a global pandemic reminded fighters that everyone’s in this together. He also added the 520 Day is a significant day for the fighters, as they are after all husbands, boyfriends and sons and for some of them, MMA is their main source of income. 

On top of spreading the message of love to spouses, family members and friends, the video aims to bring across the message of Rebel FC's motto of 'Fightainment' - cultivating or signing MMA athletes who are skilled at fighting as well as entertain, inspire and empower those who follow and watch them.

“Our athletes train hard to compete and to put bread on the table; so in a way, they ‘fight for love’.  This video also pays tribute to all the women ‘behind’ our male fighters and we want to encourage all our fans and supporters to spend time with their loved ones. Rebel’s fighters are going ‘all out’ in their training and they can’t wait to fight for our fans in China soon,” he said.

Marketing's Content 360 conference is going virtual, and will bring together industry leaders to discuss challenges and share insights on future content marketing trends, as well as successful strategies to help tackle the complex marketing landscape. Sign up here!

Related articles:
REBEL Fighting Championship secures sponsorship from Chinese developer

share on

Follow us on our Telegram channel for the latest updates in the marketing and advertising scene.
Follow

Free newsletter

Get the daily lowdown on Asia's top marketing stories.

We break down the big and messy topics of the day so you're updated on the most important developments in Asia's marketing development – for free.

subscribe now open in new window