The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is a mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in the United States that hosts numerous events worldwide. It is the most successful MMA promotion in the world with many of the sport’s top fighters under contract.[2] The UFC has five weight-divisions and enforces the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts.[3] Dana White serves as the president of the UFC; Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta control its parent company, Zuffa, LLC.[4][5][6]
Inspired by vale tudo tournaments in Brazil, the UFC held its first competition in Denver, Colorado in 1993. Showcasing fighters of different disciplines—including boxing, Brazilian jiu jitsu, wrestling and Muay Thai, among others—the UFC sought to identify the most effective martial art in a real fight. After a period of political backlash, the UFC gradually underwent reform, embracing stricter rules and achieving sanctioning with State Athletic Commissions.
With a cable-television deal and expansion into Canada, Europe and new markets within the United States, the UFC as of 2010 has gained in popularity, along with greater mainstream-media coverage. As of 2010 viewers can access UFC programming on pay-per-view television, Versus in the United States, on ESPN in the United Kingdom and Ireland as well as in 33 other countries worldwide.
Early competition
Royce Gracie utilized Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the UFC’s formative years to defeat opponents of greater size and strength.
Businessman Art Davie met Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu pioneer Rorion Gracie in 1991, while researching martial arts for a marketing client. Gracie operated a Brazilian jiu-jitsu school in Torrance, California and the Gracie family had a long history of vale tudo matches – a precursor of modern mixed martial arts – in Brazil. Davie became Gracie’s student.
In 1992, inspired by the Gracies in Action video-series produced by the Gracies and featuring Gracie jiu-jitsu defeating various martial-arts masters, Davie proposed to Rorion Gracie and John Milius an eight-man, single-elimination tournament with a title of War of the Worlds. The tournament would feature martial artists from different disciplines facing each other in no-holds-barred combat to determine the best martial art. it woluld aim to replicate the excitement of the matches Davie had seen on the videos.[7] Milius, a noted film director and screenwriter, as well as a Gracie student, agreed to be the event’s creative director. Davie drafted the business plan and twenty-eight investors contributed the initial capital to start WOW Promotions with the intent to develop the tournament into a television franchise.[8]
In 1993 WOW Promotions sought a television partner and approached pay-per-view producers TVKO (HBO), SET (Showtime) and the Semaphore Entertainment Group (SEG). Both TVKO and SET declined, but SEG – a pioneer in pay-per-view television which had produced such off-beat events as a mixed-gender tennis match between Jimmy Connors and Martina Navratilova – became WOW’s partner in May 1993.[9] SEG contacted video and film art-director Jason Cusson to design the trademarked “Octagon”, a signature piece for the event. Cusson remained the Production Designer through UFC 27.[7] SEG devised the name for the show as The Ultimate Fighting Championship.[10]
Early competition
Royce Gracie utilized Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the UFC’s formative years to defeat opponents of greater size and strength.
Businessman Art Davie met Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu pioneer Rorion Gracie in 1991, while researching martial arts for a marketing client. Gracie operated a Brazilian jiu-jitsu school in Torrance, California and the Gracie family had a long history of vale tudo matches – a precursor of modern mixed martial arts – in Brazil. Davie became Gracie’s student.
In 1992, inspired by the Gracies in Action video-series produced by the Gracies and featuring Gracie jiu-jitsu defeating various martial-arts masters, Davie proposed to Rorion Gracie and John Milius an eight-man, single-elimination tournament with a title of War of the Worlds. The tournament would feature martial artists from different disciplines facing each other in no-holds-barred combat to determine the best martial art. it woluld aim to replicate the excitement of the matches Davie had seen on the videos.[7] Milius, a noted film director and screenwriter, as well as a Gracie student, agreed to be
In 1993 WOW Promotions sought a television partner and approached pay-per-view producers TVKO (HBO), SET (Showtime) and the Semaphore Entertainment Group (SEG). Both TVKO and SET declined, but SEG – a pioneer in pay-per-view television which had produced such off-beat events as a mixed-gender tennis match between Jimmy Connors and Martina Navratilova – became WOW’s partner in May 1993.[9] SEG contacted video and film art-director Jason Cusson to design the trademarked “Octagon”, a signature piece for the event. Cusson remained the Production Designer through UFC 27.[7] SEG devised the name for the show as The Ultimate Fighting Championship.
WOW Promotions and SEG produced the first event, later called UFC 1, at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado on November 12, 1993. Art Davie functioned as the show’s booker and matchmaker.[11] The television broadcast featured kickboxers Patrick Smith and Kevin Rosier, savate fighter Gerard Gordeau, karate expert Zane Frazier, shootfighter Ken Shamrock, sumo wrestler Teila Tuli, boxer Art Jimmerson and 175 lb. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Royce Gracie—younger brother of UFC co-founder Rorion Gracie who was hand-picked by Rorion himself to represent his family in the competition. The show became an instant success, drawing 86,592 television subscribers on pay-per-view.
The show proposed to find an answer for sports fans to questions such as: “Can a wrestler beat a boxer?”[12] As with most martial arts at the time, fighters typically had skills in just one discipline and had little experience against opponents with different skills.[13] Royce Gracie’s submission skills proved the most effective in the inaugural tournament, earning him the first ever UFC tournament championship.
However, the promoters did not intend for the event to become a precursor to a series. “That show was only supposed to be a one-off,” eventual UFC President Dana White said. “It did so well on pay-per-view they decided to do another, and another. Never in a million years did these guys think they were creating a sport.”
With no weight classes, fighters often faced significantly larger or taller opponents. For example, Keith “The Giant Killer” Hackney faced Emmanuel Yarborough at UFC 3 with a 9 in (23 cm) height and 400 pounds (180 kg) weight disadvantage.[16] Many martial artists believed that technique could overcome these size disadvantages, and that a skilled fighter could use an opponent’s size and strength against him. With the 175 lb (79 kg) Royce Gracie winning three of the first four events, the UFC quickly proved that size does not always determine the outcome of the fight.
During this early stage of the organization, the UFC would showcase a bevy of different styles and fighters. Aside from the aforementioned Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock and Patrick Smith, the competitions also featured competitors such as Kimo Leopoldo, Hall-of-Famer Dan Severn, Marco Ruas, Oleg Taktarov, Tank Abbott, Don Frye and Gary Goodridge.
In April 1995, following UFC 5 in Charlotte, North Carolina, Davie and Gracie sold their interest in the franchise to SEG and disbanded WOW Promotions. Davie continued with SEG as the show’s booker and matchmaker, as well as the commissioner of Ultimate Fighting, until December 1997.
Cage
The UFC stages bouts in an eight-sided enclosure; “The Octagon.” Originally, SEG trademarked The Octagon and prevented other mixed martial arts promotions from using the same type of cage, but in 2001, Zuffa gave its permission for other promotions to use octagonal cages (while reserving use of the name “Octagon”), reasoning that the young sport needed uniformity to continue to win official sanctioning.[56]
The cage is an octagonal structure with walls of metal chain-link fence coated with black vinyl and a diameter of 32 ft (9.8 m), allowing 30 ft (9.1 m) of space from point to point. The fence is 5′6″ to 5′8″ high. The cage sits atop a platform, raising it 4 ft (1.2 m) from the ground. It has foam padding around the top of the fence and between each of the eight sections. It also has two entry-exit gates opposite each other.[57] The mat, painted with sponsorship logos and art, is replaced for each event.
Attire
All competitors must fight in approved shorts, without shoes. Shirts, gis or long pants (including gi pants) are not allowed. Fighters must use approved light-weight open-fingered gloves, that include at least 1″ of padding around the knuckles, (110 to 170 g / 4 to 6 ounces) that allow fingers to grab. These gloves enable fighters to punch with less risk of an injured or broken hand, while retaining the ability to grab and grapple.
Originally the attire for UFC was very open if controlled at all. Many fighters still chose to wear tight-fitting shorts or boxing-type trunks, while others wore long pants or singlets. Multi-time tournament champion Royce Gracie wore a jiujitsu gi in all his early appearances in UFC.
