It's a good week to be Brazilian.
With the UFC gaining rapid steam in the country and the promotion set for a January return to the South American nation, Brazilian fighters also scored big in the company's first-ever Twitter bonus awards.
UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva (@SpiderAnderson), former interim heavyweight champ Antonio Rodrgio Nogueira (@MinotauroMMA) and middleweight contender Demian Maia (@DemianMaia) each pocketed $10,000 for winning bonuses in two different categories.
The fighters each earned awards in the "most followers" and "biggest percentage growth in followers" categories during the company's first-ever quarterly contest, which included this past June, July and August.
Strikeforce female champion Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos (@CrisCyborg) earned one award, netting $5,000 in the "most followers" category, while Paulo Thiago (@PauloThiagoMMA) rounded out the Brazilian sweep with a single award in the "biggest percentage growth in followers."
Additionally, non-Brazilian contenders Joseph Benavidez (@JoeB135), Forrest Griffin (@ForrestGriffin), Ben Henderson (@SmoothOne155) and Joe Lauzon (@JoeLauzon) each pocketed $5,000 for posting the "most creative Tweets" of the quarter.
Earlier this year, Zuffa officials rolled out the new bonus program to all UFC and Strikeforce fighters. UFC president Dana White long has been a supporter of the social-media movement and currently boast nearly 1.7 million Twitter followers.
For the purpose of the UFC's Twitter bonuses, all UFC and Strikeforce fighters are divided into four separate categories based on the number of followers they have at the beginning of the scoring period. The tiered system allows fighters such as Santos (13,000-plus followers) and Maia (94,000-plus followers) to compete along side superstars such as Siva (839,000-plus followers) and Nogueira (281,000-plus followers).
While Twitter is one of the hottest social-media platforms in the world, White and the UFC's enthusiastic embrace of the technology has made it a must-have for MMA fans. White and his fighters often interact directly with fans on Twitter through personal messages, news updates and ticket and product giveaways.
Source: Brazil scores big in UFC's first-ever Twitter bonuses; Silva, Nogueira, Maia earn $10K