A promotional caption gone wrong has put European MMA promotion Oktagon MMA under the microscope. UFC veteran Jessica Rose-Clark publicly called out the organization for what she described as an obvious case of AI-generated copy.
The controversy started when Oktagon MMA posted a promotional caption for an upcoming bout featuring Australian flyweight Lisa “The Savage” Milagros for OKTAGON 59, scheduled for June 6 in Bratislava, Slovakia.
The caption read as a seemingly polished write-up of the athlete’s credentials, referencing her world ranking at No. 44, her status as a champion in two Australian organizations, and her style as a pressure-heavy flyweight with relentless cardio. On the surface, it appeared like standard promotional material.
The problem? The caption fabricated a connection that never existed.
Buried in the copy was a reference claiming that Milagros had become known through an exhausting five-round war with “famous UFC veteran and former world champion Jessica Rose-Clark.”
Rose-Clark, who did compete in the UFC flyweight division, was quick to set the record straight in the comments section.
“Brooooo why you lying,” Rose-Clark wrote directly to Oktagon MMA’s account. “Lisa The Savage is a k*ller and is gonna put on a show, but her and I have never fought. You should post her actual accolades cos they’re impressive af without you trying to throw my name in there.”
The caption’s telltale signs were enough for Rose-Clark to call out the source. She reposted the image with the caption, “When Oktagon MMA uses Chat GPT to write their captions,” letting her followers draw their own conclusions about the promotion’s content strategy.
The irony is that this moment arrives just as UFC CEO Dana White has been openly celebrating the promotion’s embrace of AI across its content operations. In a recent podcast appearance, White made clear that the UFC views AI as one of many technologies it intends to get ahead of rather than wait on.
“Whatever the new technology is, we’re on it,” White told podcast host David Senra.
White pointed to the UFC’s long history of using production technology creatively, including a memorable promotional spot made over a decade ago for the Conor McGregor vs. Jose Aldo matchup at UFC 194.
“We did a commercial, I don’t know, over 10 years ago for the Conor McGregor-Jose Aldo match,” he said. “It was incredible. It was on the strip, and they end up meeting out in front of MGM and all these Brazilians and all.”
He noted that the spectacle was largely constructed through production techniques. “Do they think that we really had all those people out there and that we really did that? No. That isn’t the way it worked. And that was way before AI.”
When critics raised concerns about the UFC’s use of AI-generated video in a recent promotional piece, White was unapologetic. “But my response is why don’t you just shut the f**k up and watch the matches,” he said. “Do you care what we’re doing technology-wise? And what’s the difference between we were using green screens before that too, right?”
