I am very happy to hear that your first weeks on Steemit have been so bright @michaelvenompage. :c)

This is definitely the sort of platform where knowing the right persons will greatly help you elevate through the ranks. Good on you and continue to deliver great content always. :c)

I would recommend cultivating your follower-base. This will involve a moment to step back and take stock of your relationship with Steemit as it is now - and your relationship as you would like it to be.

Clearly MMA is your niche but you will need to decide whether you want that to be your exclusive niche. Identify a couple of secondaries that you 'could' delve into (no need to do so now - but keep it in mind).

You might even want to consider setting up a second account 'specifically' for the intended audience of such.

It is one present limitation of Steemit - one cannot subscribe to just 'part' of a person's output (and when you have two or more niches that don't really compliment each other (such as I do myself), well that can be an annoyance to followers at times - and you cannot truly know why your follower base is actually following you).

As your active follower base grows you will find that your payouts become less dependent upon the good graces of gatekeeper members and while it will always be nice to be in their good graces - its simply nice to also be able to stand on your own two feet and climb those steps in the same way you appreciate every fight more when your opponent gives you his all.