UFC Jon Jones Retirement: YouTube Dataset

This dataset captures public reaction and discussion surrounding UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones' retirement from combat sports. Collected on June 22, 2025, it contains 231,051 YouTube comments and metadata from 493 videos discussing this significant moment in mixed martial arts history.

Data Collection

Data was systematically collected using YouTube's public search with the query "UFC champion Jon Jones retires from combat sports". The collection process targeted the most relevant and recent videos discussing Jones' retirement announcement, capturing both immediate reactions and longer-form analysis content.

Dataset Contents

The dataset includes comprehensive video metadata (titles, descriptions, view counts, duration) and associated user comments with engagement metrics (likes, replies, timestamps). This provides a multi-dimensional view of public sentiment and discussion patterns around a major sports retirement announcement.

Potential Use Cases

• Sentiment Analysis: Analyze public opinion on athlete retirement decisions
• Social Media Research: Study discussion patterns around major sports news
• Sports Analytics: Examine fan engagement with career transition announcements
• Text Mining: Extract themes and topics from sports-related discussions
• Temporal Analysis: Track how conversation evolves over time
• Engagement Studies: Analyze comment-to-view ratios and interaction patterns

Ethical Considerations

All data was collected from publicly available YouTube content. No private or restricted content was accessed. Researchers should consider privacy implications when analyzing user-generated content and follow appropriate ethical guidelines for social media research.

File Structure

• Video Details: Comprehensive metadata for 493 videos including titles, descriptions, and engagement metrics
• Comments: 231,051 user comments with timestamps, engagement data, and reply threading information

Support & Updates

Questions about the dataset structure, collection methodology, or potential applications? Feel free to start a discussion in the forum - I'm happy to help and provide additional context about the data collection process!