massive amount of followers posting content on TikTok<\/a>, Pergande couldn\u2019t help but take notice.<\/p>\n\u201cAt one point, I remember my fianc\u00e9e, she was on TikTok posting silly videos and she had like 50,000 followers,\u201d Pergande told MMA Fighting. \u201cI\u2019m like whoa, she has 50,000 followers just posting silly videos online?<\/p>\n
\u201cBut back then, TikTok was a little bit different. It was for dances and all this stuff. I told her back then, you\u2019ll never see me installing TikTok [on my phone]. I\u2019m never getting TikTok in my life. That\u2019s where I was at. I\u2019m never getting that app. It\u2019s so cringey, so bad, I\u2019m not doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over time, TikTok\u2019s popularity exploded and the app now boasts around 1.59 billion active users worldwide. Pergande took notice and he finally decided to take the plunge to start his own account.<\/p>\n
Pergande stuck to what he knew best, which was martial arts, but he had fun creating videos that varied from tips and tricks in the cage to sparring footage and even funny videos he made with friends, teammates and his fianc\u00e9e. Before long, his account was getting some attention, which Pergande says was totally unexpected.<\/p>\n
\u201cTikTok started growing, I eventually got on there and I started playing around with a few videos,\u201d Pergande explained. \u201cI think one my videos got like 5,000 or 10,000 views and I was like whoa! That\u2019s a lot of views. Back then I\u2019m like I\u2019m blowing up! I\u2019m famous!\u201d<\/p>\n
More than anything, Pergande felt like he was providing insight into a sport that he absolutely loved but wasn\u2019t all that present when it came to a TikTok audience.<\/p>\n
That gave Pergande the opening he needed to start filling a necessary gap in the TikTok algorithm and his channel really started gaining momentum.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was looking and there wasn\u2019t enough martial arts creators there,\u201d Pergande said. \u201cThere wasn\u2019t really anyone posting about it so why don\u2019t I start? I started posting a little bit of my sparring clips and little things like that. Then a few of them caught some major, major traction. I just started gaining followers so quick. Then I was also inspiring people, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was making videos and doing what I enjoyed and building my personal brand but at the same time, I was helping this younger generation. I had so many kids and even older people reach out to me [and say] \u2018you inspired me to start martial arts.\u2019 For me, that was eye opening. That gave me the fuel to start posting more and start working on educational content and educating people about martial arts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pergande confessed that the people reaching out saying they decided to try martial arts because of him or got interested in the sport thanks to his videos really meant the most to him.<\/p>\n
Considering he got involved in combat sports when he was still just a child, which included participating in 88 amateur boxing matches before turning his full attention to MMA, Pergande was happy that he started inspiring more people to follow in his footsteps.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I\u2019ve been on TikTok for three years, but I\u2019ve gotten thousands of DM\u2019s of people saying \u2018I started martial arts because of you,\u2019\u201d Pergande revealed. \u201cI still have people every time I go on TikTok live, I have people coming in and saying \u2018I started jiu-jitsu for the first day, you inspired me, thank you so much.\u2019 Just little things like that.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I always preach how important it is to be able to defend yourself. You don\u2019t have to do it competitively. It\u2019s not something you have to make a career of but you have to be able to defend yourself and your family. That\u2019s what I always preach about.\u201d<\/p>\n
What started out as a fun way to get his name out there and share his passion for MMA eventually grew to the kind of following that allowed Pergande to get involved in the TikTok creators program, which earns money for people making those viral videos.<\/p>\n
\u201cTikTok, I\u2019ve actually been making a decent amount of money for the past [two months],\u201d Pergande said. \u201cThey\u2019ve been paying really well for the past two months and it\u2019s been great. I\u2019m just trying to stay consistent. It\u2019s educating people, building my personal brand and also getting paid for it. What else do I need?<\/p>\n
\u201cI love to vary my content. Anything that\u2019s MMA related, I\u2019ll usually post on there. I\u2019ll mess around with stupid little videos. I keep my content very broad. It attracts different fan bases.\u201d<\/p>\n
With his next fight scheduled on Thursday, Pergande is primarily focused on his next bout in the PFL. That said, the featherweight fighter hopes sharing his experiences on there not only helps supplement his income but he\u2019s able to spread the word about martial arts and maybe even share some knowledge about what it\u2019s like to make combat sports your career.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese kids love it and the next generation coming up, I want them to grow up with some kind of knowledge of martial arts and the people that do want to make their career martial arts to not make the same mistakes I did,\u201d Pergande said. \u201cBecause that\u2019s also what I share on TikTok. Where I screwed up, where I went a little bit too hard on sparring, where I made this mistake, and I just talk about it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat younger generation, when they get into that same situation, they\u2019re going to be a little bit more level headed about it and understand how to handle that situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
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