Why the unpredictable nature of liveblogging is so important to us and our readers

At 6am on 7 October, I was sitting in the office on a night shift, slightly tired and bordering on delirious while liveblogging The Independent’s coverage of one of the biggest and now most talked about events in sporting history to tens of thousands of viewers around the world.

After just under two years out of the octagon and a failed but highly profitable attempt at a boxing career, Conor McGregor had just been forced into submission by defending UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. What happened next grabbed the world’s attention.

Nurmagomedov jumped the cage and attacked McGregor’s teammates. Meanwhile, inside the ring, the Irishman was still stunned from being forced to tap, before he was attacked by Nurmagomedov’s army of men.

Needless to say, it woke me up. But how would I quickly update my already-engaged readers on the key facts, while still providing a full analysis for those fast asleep at home who would check the results over a cup of tea, still in bed a few hours later?

My colleague Luke Brown and I were primed; he wrote multiple “breaking news” stories while I let the world know minute by minute what was happening. So while it was easy to get excited and write this initial post in reaction: “KHABIB JUMPS THE FENCE AND IT ALL KICKS OFF. IT ALL DESCENDS INTO CHAOS INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE OCTAGON! WHAT IS GOING ON?!”, it was important to have followed it up with this: “Give us a moment to clear up everything that is happening right now.”

At crucial points like these, all people want to see are the facts and evidence – a play-by-play that is accurate and concise. So we followed up with video, pictures and quotes from those involved in the utter madness surrounding the event, while Luke wrote and told the story in full.

It was easily the most exciting shift I have ever worked for The Independent.

The reason live coverage of events like boxing or MMA is so fun is precisely because of the unpredictable nature of it all. Anything can happen at any moment. It could be a dull 12-rounder, or someone could get knocked out in 30 seconds, but the important thing is to be ready, take a beat and tell the story in as much detail as you have available.

Yours,

Adam Hamdani

Social media and SEO assistant editor