By CCN.com: The Litecoin price has surpassed $100 once again and nobody is more pumped about it than UFC Fighter Ben Askren. The LTC price hasn’t been trading in the triple digits since June 2018, according to CoinMarketCap data. It’s up more than 13% today and Litecoin disciple Askren is shouting it from the Twitter rooftops.

Earlier this year, the Litecoin Foundation sponsored Askren, whose nickname is “Funky”, for UFC 235, his Ultimate Fighting Championship match in which he faced Robbie Lawler. Askren was named the winner of the match after three minutes and 20 seconds, but Litecoin won, too. The fifth-biggest cryptocurrency’s logo was plastered on the UFC’s famous Octagon during the UFC 232 match in January. Ever since then, the Litecoin price has been on fire.

Litecoin’s Run

Litecoin Creator Charlie Lee has a knack for marketing, and Askren couldn’t have picked a more high-profile cryptocurrency with the exception of bitcoin. Litecoin has been the coin to watch ever since year-end 2018 really when Lee announced his intentions to transform LTC into a privacy coin. But it wasn’t until February 2019 that the Litecoin price rallied some 30% in one day, which according to industry leaders is when the tide began to turn for the crypto market.

While it’s still a far cry from its peak of more than $300 per coin, LTC is on fire in 2019 and could be headed to peak levels once again, which is where some say that the bitcoin price is headed, too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH7ahx4m4qQ

Pro Athletes and Cryptocurrencies

Professional athletes have begun to catch crypto fever, and it’s not just the UFC. Litecoin is also sponsoring the popular kickboxing league for GLORY 65. The event is scheduled to take place on May 17 in Utrecht, Netherlands. GLORY considers LTC its flagship cryptocurrency and earlier this year began accepting LTC as a form of payment for its merchandise.

The Litecoin Foundation is clearly looking to capitalize on the tech-savvy young fan base of the combat leagues it supports.

This Friday Litecoin gets in the ring at #GLORY65. Tune in and support this awesome organization that is quickly taking the combat sports world by storm and making Litecoin a part of their push! https://t.co/q7gZhgoSuf @GLORY_WS @ufcfightpass pic.twitter.com/wg215fivLu — Litecoin Foundation (@LTCFoundation) May 13, 2019

The NFL Has Caught Bitcoin Fever

Just yesterday, NFL players Matt Barkley and Russell Okung were tweeting about bitcoin. Both would like to be paid in BTC, something that their respective teams have thus far denied. Considering the way that Litecoin is resonating with the UFC and kickboxing leagues, however, Charlie Lee could be the one to convince the football players to be paid with LTC instead.