Streamer livestreams pay-per-view fight by pretending to play UFC game, gets 24-hour ban (Updated)

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"I've just got to ride the wave and pray I don't go to jail."

Update: After pretending live footage of Saturday's UFC 218 main event was in-game footage of EA's UFC 3 game, inventive streamer AJ Lester has been handed a 24-hour ban on Twitch.  

In the Periscope broadcast featured below, Lester reacts to his newfound popularity—suggesting he's since gained thousands of followers across Twitter, Twitch and YouTube.  

"This viral stuff has went out of control, man. I had to turn all the notifications off on my phone," says Lester. "My YouTube has blown up, I've gained over one thousand subs—that's crazy. All for a 20-second clip. I've just got to ride the wave and pray I don't go to jail. Or get sued."

Lester adds that while he accepts what he did was illegal, he feels a number of other streamers are liable for punishment should he himself get into trouble. He also admits that the current buzz is "cool for the most part", and that it helps people see his "wild and funny side", so far as his streams are concerned.

He continues: "The timing of it was so perfect too because the beta just came out. Just going to ride the wave. You really think you can get in trouble? I mean, I can, if they really wanted to.

"All these articles: 'Eh! This and that', and I'm like, oh my god."

Later in the broadcast, Lester jokes about searching for himself on Google and the extent of his overnight celebrity-ism. 

"People emailing me for interviews and shit. I'm like: bruh, you need to pay me, this ain't free. I need at least 10 Gs to ask me some questions. I'm famous right now. Just to talk to me costs 10k, what's going on? Send me an email [will] cost you five, what up?"

Lester also reckons we'll soon see streamers doing something similar with other games, such as livestreaming basketball games by way of NBA 2017.  

Thanks, Eurogamer. 

Original story: 

UFC 218 took place on Saturday, with featherweight fighters Max Holloway and Jose Aldo headlining the event's main card. By pretending live footage of the fight was in-game footage of the latest EA Sports UFC videogame (UFC 3), streamer AJ Lester broadcast the otherwise pay-per-view event to the world. 

In the UK, subscribing to BT Sport grants you access to Ultimate Fighting Championship events, however various other PPV models—not least the UFC Fight Pass—apply worldwide. What AJ Lester did is, clearly, illegal however that hasn't stopped this clip of the stream from going viral on Twitter.

Despite breaking the law, AJ Lester's commitment to the ruse is admirable—his grunts and sharp glances to the stream's text chat do make it seem like he's in control of the fight.

Yesterday, AJ Lester returned to his regular Fortnite stream to acknowledge his newfound fame.

Joe Donnelly
Deputy Editor, PC Gaming Show