What is UFC
Ultimate Fighting Championship is a U.S.-based mixed martial
arts (MMA) organization, currently recognized as the major MMA promotion in
North America.
The UFC organization follows a rich history and tradition of competitive MMA
dating back to the Olympic Games in Athens . About 80 years ago, a Brazilian
form of MMA known as Vale Tudo (anything goes) sparked local interest in the
sport.
Then, the UFC organization brought MMA to the world. The goal was to find
�the Ultimate Fighting Champion� with a concept to have a tournament of the
best athletes skilled in the various disciplines of all martial arts,
including Karate, jiu-jitsu, boxing,
Kickboxing, grappling, wrestling, sumo
and other combat sports. The winner of the tournament would be crowned the
champion.
Started by Art Davie & Rorion Gracie - WOW Promotions as a tournament to
find the world's best fighter, no matter their style, the UFC was to be
based upon a version of Brazilian vale tudo fighting. Often violent and
brutal with minimal rules, the UFC's brand of vale tudo, initially known as
no holds barred fighting, allowed fighters of various disciplines to prove
which martial arts style prevailed above others in realistic, unregulated
situations. Early UFC fights, while accomplishing the goal of determining
which style was best, were less sport than spectacle, which led to
accusations of brutality and "human cockfighting" by opponents. Political
pressures eventually led the UFC into the underground, as pay-per-view
providers nixed UFC programming, nearly extinguishing the UFC's public
visibility.
As political pressure mounted, the UFC reformed itself, slowly embracing
stricter rules, becoming sanctioned by athletic commissions, and marketing
itself as a legitimate sporting event. Dropping the no holds barred label
and carrying the banner of mixed martial arts, the UFC has emerged from its
political isolation to become more socially acceptable, regaining its
position in pay-per-view television. With a cable television deal with Fox
Sports Net and now Spike TV, and legalization of MMA in California, a hotbed
for MMA fandom, the UFC is currently undergoing a remarkable surge in
popularity, along with heightened media coverage. UFC programming can now be
seen in the United States, as well as in Britain, Canada, Japan, Mexico, and
Brazil.
The UFC is currently based in Las Vegas, Nevada, and owned and operated by
casino operators Frank Ferttita III and Lorenzo Ferttita under the name
Zuffa, LLC.
Origins
The concept for a tournament to discover the world's best fighter was the
brainchild of Art Davie, a Southern California based advertising executive.
Davie met Rorion Gracie in 1991 while researching martial arts for a
marketing client. Gracie operated a jiu-jitsu school in Torrance, California
and the Gracie family had a long history of mixed martial arts matches in
Brazil. Davie became Gracie's student.
In 1992, Davie proposed an eight-man, single-elimination tournament with a
working title of War of the Worlds to Rorion Gracie and John Milius. The
tournament would feature martial artists from different disciplines facing
each other in no holds barred combat. 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.
In 1992, WOW Promotions sought a television partner and approached Showtime,
HBO and Semaphore Entertainment Group (SEG). Both HBO and Showtime declined
but SEG, a pioneer in Pay-Per-View TV who had produced a mixed tennis match
between Jimmy Connors and Martina Navratilova, became WOW's partner in May
1993. SEG devised the name for the show: The Ultimate Fighting Championship. The two companies produced the first event at McNichols
Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado on November 12, 1993. Davie functioned as
the show's booker and matchmaker. The television broadcast featured two
kickboxers (Patrick Smith and Kevin Rosier), a savate black belt (Gerard
Gordeau), a karate expert (Zane Frazier), a shootfighter (Ken Shamrock), a
sumo wrestler (Teila Tuli), a professional boxer (Art Jimmerson), and a
Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt (Royce Gracie). The show was an instant
success, drawing 86,592 television subscribers on Pay-Per-View TV. 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 as the show's booker and matchmaker, as well as the Commissioner
of Ultimate Fighting, until December 1997.
APPEAL
A core appeal for the show was to find an answer for sports fans: "Can a
wrestler beat a boxer." As was the case with most martial arts at the time,
fighters were typically skilled in just one discipline (for example boxing,
Judo, Jiu Jitsu) and had little experience against opponents with different
skills. Some competitors were also rumored to have inflated their
credentials to legitimize their presence. (Kimo Leopoldo, for example, was
touted in UFC 3 as having a "third degree black belt" in
Tae Kwon Do. Kimo's
fighting is best described as freestyle and he holds no such rank.)
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" height difference and a 400-pound weight
difference. Many martial artists believed that technique could overcome
these advantages, that a skilled fighter could use an opponent's size and
strength against him, and with the 170-pound Royce Gracie dispatching many
larger opponents, the UFC quickly proved that size does not always determine
outcome.
Although "There are no rules!" was the tagline, the term was not strictly
true; the UFC operated with limited rules. There was no biting, no eye
gouging, and techniques such as hair pulling, headbutts and groin strikes
were frowned upon, but allowed. In fact, in a UFC 4 qualifying match, two
competitors agreed not to pull hair as they both wore pony tails tied back
for the match. UFC was similarly characterized, especially in the early
days, as an extremely violent sport while having very gracious and
respectful competitors.
The UFC became a hit on Pay-Per-View and home video almost immediately due
to its originality, realism and wide press coverage, although not all of it
favorable. The nature of the burgeoning sport quickly drew the attention of
the authorities and UFC events were banned in a number of American states.
After repeated criticism, and letter writing campaigns led by Senator John
McCain (R-AZ), the UFC was dropped from the major cable pay-per-view
distributor Viewer's Choice, and individual cable carriers such as TCI
Cable. The UFC continued to air on DirecTV PPV though its audience was
miniscule compared to the larger cable PPV platforms of the era.
To survive, the UFC increased its cooperation with state athletic
commissions and redesigned its rules to remove the less palatable elements
of fights, while retaining the core elements of striking and grappling.
Weight classes were introduced at UFC 12, and gloves became mandatory at
UFC
14. UFC 15 saw the introduction of limits on permissible striking areas,
barring headbutts, groin strikes, strikes to the back of the neck and head,
kicks to a downed opponent, small joint manipulation, pressure point
strikes, and hair pulling. And with five minute rounds introduced at
UFC 22,
the UFC gradually became rebranded as a sport rather than a spectacle.
As the UFC continued to work with state athletic commissions, events were
held in smaller US markets including Iowa, Mississippi, Louisiana, Wyoming
and Alabama. SEG could not secure even home video releases for
UFC 23
through UFC 29, in a period known by some fans as the UFC's "Dark Ages."
With other MMA promotions working towards US sanctioning, the International
Fighting Championships secured the first US sanctioned MMA event, which
occurred in New Jersey on September 30, 2000. Just two months later, the UFC
held its first sanctioned event, UFC 28, under the New Jersey State Athletic
Control Board's "Mixed Martial Arts Unified Rules".
After the long battle to get sanctioned, and on the brink of bankruptcy, SEG
was approached by Zuffa, LLC, a partnership between Station Casinos
executives Frank and Lorenzo Ferttita, and boxing promoter Dana White in
2001, with an offer to purchase the UFC. A month later, in January of 2001,
Zuffa took control of the UFC. With ties to the Nevada State Athletic
Commission (Lorenzo Ferttita was a former member of the NSAC), Zuffa secured
sanctioning by the Nevada State Athletic Commission in 2001. Shortly
thereafter, the UFC returned to PPV cable television.
After Zuffa purchased the UFC, it steadily rose in popularity, due partly to
effective advertising, the return of cable pay-per-view, and subsequent home
video and DVD releases. With larger live gates at casino venues like the
Trump Taj Mahal and the MGM Grand Arena, and pay-per-view buys beginning to
return to levels enjoyed by the UFC prior to the political backlash in 1997,
the UFC secured its first television deal with Fox Sports Net, showing one
hour blocks of the UFC's greatest bouts. By UFC 40 in 2002, pay-per-view
buys numbered 150,000 (a mark not hit by the UFC since going "underground"
in 1997).
The New UFC
In January 2001, under the new ownership of
Zuffa, LLC, the UFC brand completely restructured MMA into a highly
organized and controlled combat sport. As a result, the UFC organization now
offers eight live pay-per-view events annually through cable and satellite
providers. UFC fight programs are also distributed internationally
throughout the world, including broadcast on WOWOW, Inc. in Japan, Globosat
in Brazil, and Bravo in the United Kingdom.
Response to the UFC brand of MMA has been tremendous, resulting in a growing
fan base that has grown exponentially through the years.
Recently, a UFC event in Anaheim attracted more than 17,000 people�the
largest audience ever to witness a UFC event. Since then, UFC popularity
continues to reach new heights as the third season of the hit reality series
The Ultimate Fighter� delivered record ratings for the Spike TV cable
network.
Just recently, the UFC organization and Spike TV extended its two-year
strategic partnership through 2008 to present four additional seasons of hit
reality series The Ultimate Fighter, as well as ten live Ultimate Fight
Night� events and 26 taped programs of UFC: Unleashed�.
The UFC organization is regulated and recognized by the world�s most
prestigious sports regulatory bodies including the California, Nevada and
New Jersey State Athletic Commissions. The new UFC organization strives for
the highest levels of safety and quality in all aspects of the sport.
Under the strong leadership of owners Lorenzo Fertitta and Frank Fertitta
III, and expertise of President Dana White , the UFC brand continues to
thrive across a spectrum of live event sports, television production and
ancillary business development.