Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl – Damn Dana White is a smart man!!!

The UFC is taking a revolutionary approach to the art of Twitter, by actively encouraging their fighters to use the social networking site with the offer of financial rewards.

Twitter has been frowned upon in the majority of major sports, with stars of football, rugby union, golf and cricket all warned or sanctioned for their brushes with the media tool.

However, UFC president Dana White has set out to ensure all his fighters are as interactive with the public as possibly, by offering quarterly prizes for the best Tweeters.

Starting in June, UFC and Strikeforce fighters will be split into four groups, based on their current number of Twitter followers. This will be done to ensure fairness.

Then, on a quarterly basis, three fighters from each group (12 in total) will be handed a $5,000 bonus, based on the fighter who has gained most followers in the quarter, the fighter who gained the highest percentage of new followers, and the fighter who produced the most creative tweets.

White made the announcement at this week’s UFC summit, according to MMA Fighting.  At the conclusion of a full calendar year, the UFC will end up paying $240,000 a year to its fighters for their Twitter usage.

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