Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is a U.S.-based mixed martial arts (MMA) organization, currently recognized as the major MMA promotion in North America. The UFC is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada and is owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC.

The UFC was started as a tournament to find the world’s best fighters irrespective of their style, and was based upon Brazilian vale tudo fighting. Although there was a limited number of rules, the UFC was initially known as no holds barred fighting and contests were often violent and brutal. Early UFC fights 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 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 on Spike TV in the United States, as well as in 35 other countries worldwide without a satellite dish and all countries worldwide with a satellite dish.

Contents

History

Origins

The concept for a tournament to discover the world’s best fighting style was the brainchild of Art Davie, a Southern California based advertising executive.[1] Davie met 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 mixed martial arts – in Brazil. Davie became Gracie’s student.

In 1992, inspired by the Gracies in Action video series produced by the Gracies featuring various martial arts masters being defeated using Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, 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 to see which martial art was truly the best which replicated the excitement of the matches Davie saw on those videos.[2] 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.[3]

In 1993, WOW Promotions sought a television partner and approached pay-per-view producers TVKO (HBO), SET (Showtime) and 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.[2] SEG devised the name for the show as The Ultimate Fighting Championship.[4] 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.[5] 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 freestyle wrestler, Teila Tuli; a professional boxer, Art Jimmerson; and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Royce Gracie—Rorion’s younger brother who was hand-picked by Rorion himself to represent his family. The show was an instant success, drawing 86,592 television subscribers on pay-per-view to witness Royce Gracie take the first UFC crown. 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.

A core proposition for the show was to find an answer for sports fans: “Can a wrestler beat a boxer?”[6] As was the case with most martial arts at the time, fighters were typically skilled in just one discipline (e.g., boxing, Judo, or jujutsu) 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 a “third degree black belt” in taekwondo. Kimo’s fighting is best described as freestyle and he holds no such rank.[7]

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu 180-lb. fighter Royce Gracie submits 260-lb. champion wrestler Dan Severn in UFC 4, 1994.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu 180-lb. fighter Royce Gracie submits 260-lb. champion wrestler Dan Severn in UFC 4, 1994.[8]

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 (22 cm) height and 400 lb (180 kg) weight disadvantage.[9] 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 170 lb (77 kg) Royce Gracie winning three of the first four UFC events, 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 Jason Fairn and Guy Mezger agreed not to pull hair as they both wore pony tails tied back for the match. Additionally, that same event saw a matchup between Keith Hackney and Joe Son in which Hackney unleashed a series of groin shots against Joe Son while on the ground. UFC was similarly characterized, especially in the early days, as an extremely violent sport, as evidenced by a disclaimer in the beginning of the UFC 5 broadcast which warned audiences of the violent nature of the event.

Controversy and reform

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. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), was sent a tape of the first UFC events and immediately found it abhorrent. McCain himself led a campaign to ban Ultimate Fighting, calling it “human cockfighting”, and sending letters to the governors of all fifty U.S. states to ban the event.[8] As a result, the UFC was dropped from the major cable pay-per-view distributor Viewer’s Choice, and individual cable carriers such as TCI Cable. Thirty-six states enacted laws that banned “no-holds-barred” fighting, including New York, which enacted the ban on the eve of UFC 8, forcing a last-minute relocation of the event.[10] The UFC continued to air on DirecTV PPV, though its audience was minuscule compared to the larger cable pay-per-view platforms of the era.

In response to the criticism, 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; gloves became mandatory and kicks to a downed opponent, hair pulling, and groin strikes were banned at UFC 14. UFC 15 saw more limitations on permissible striking areas: strikes to the back of the neck and head, and small joint manipulations were banned. With five-minute rounds introduced at UFC 21, the UFC gradually re-branded itself as a sport rather than a spectacle.

As the UFC continued to work with state athletic commissions, events were held in smaller U.S. markets, including Iowa, Mississippi, Louisiana, Wyoming and Alabama. SEG could not secure home video releases for UFC 23 through UFC 29 in a period known by some fans as the “Dark Ages” of the UFC. With other mixed martial arts promotions working towards U.S. sanctioning, the International Fighting Championships secured the first U.S. sanctioned mixed martial arts 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 “Unified Rules”.[11] A spokeswoman for McCain would later state “he’s very glad to see the changes” in the sport’s safety rules.[12]

Zuffa purchase

After the long battle to get sanctioned, and on the brink of bankruptcy, SEG was approached by Station Casinos executives Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, and boxing promoter Dana White in 2001, with an offer to purchase the UFC. A month later, in January 2001, the Fertittas and White bought the UFC for $2 million and created Zuffa, LLC as the parent entity controlling the UFC.[13] With ties to the Nevada State Athletic Commission (Lorenzo Fertitta was a former member of the NSAC), Zuffa secured sanctioning in Nevada in 2001.[14] Shortly thereafter, at UFC 33, the UFC returned to pay-per-view cable television.

The UFC steadily, but slowly, rose in popularity after the Zuffa purchase, due partly to effective advertising, corporate sponsorship, 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 Garden 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, with The Best Damn Sports Show Period airing the first mixed martial arts match on American cable television in June 2002 with UFC 37.5. Later, FSN would air highlight shows from the UFC, showcasing one hour blocks of the UFC’s greatest bouts. At UFC 40, pay-per-view buys hit 150,000 for a card headlined by a grudge match between Tito Ortiz, the UFC’s charismatic and controversial champion, and Ken Shamrock, an original headliner from the UFC’s early days who had since defected to WWE-brand professional wrestling. It was the first time the UFC hit such a high mark since being forced “underground” in 1997.[15] Despite the success, the UFC was still experiencing financial deficits, and by 2004, Zuffa had $34 million of losses since the purchase.[16]

Mainstream emergence

After being featured in a reality television series, American Casino, and seeing how well the series worked as a promotion vehicle, the Fertitta brothers decided that the UFC should have their own reality series. Their idea, The Ultimate Fighter – a reality television show not unlike Survivor, but featuring up-and-coming MMA fighters in competition, with fighters eliminated from competition via exhibition mixed martial arts matches – was pitched to several networks, each one rejecting the idea outright. It was not until they approached Spike TV, with an offer to pay for the $10 million production costs themselves, did they find an outlet.[16] In January 2005, Spike TV launched the series in the timeslot following WWE Raw, and the show became an instant success. A second season of The Ultimate Fighter launched in August 2005, and two more seasons appeared in 2006. Spike TV and the UFC announced plans for additional seasons airing in 2007 and 2008.[17]

Comedian Joe Rogan broadcasting as color commentator at UFC Fight Night 7

Comedian Joe Rogan broadcasting as color commentator at UFC Fight Night 7

Following the success of The Ultimate Fighter, Spike TV also picked up UFC Unleashed, an hour-long weekly show featuring selected fights from previous fight cards. Spike TV also signed on to broadcast live UFC Fight Night, a series of fight events debuting in August 2005; Countdown specials to promote upcoming UFC pay-per-view cards, and several other series and specials featuring and promoting the UFC and its fighters.

With the increased visibility, UFC’s pay-per-view buy numbers exploded. UFC 52, the first event after the completion of the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, drew a pay-per-view audience of 280,000, nearly double their previous benchmark of 150,000 set at UFC 40. Following the second season of The Ultimate Fighter, the UFC’s much-hyped rubber match between Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell drew an estimated 410,000 pay-per-view buys at UFC 57. For the rest of 2006, pay-per-view buy rates continued to skyrocket with 620,000 buys for UFC 60, 775,000 buys for UFC 61 which featured the second fight between Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz, the coaches of The Ultimate Fighter 3. UFC 66, featuring Tito Ortiz facing Chuck Liddell in their highly anticipated rematch, garnered 1,050,000 buy rates, the current PPV buy rate record for the UFC and MMA in general. The UFC broke the pay-per-view industry’s all-time records for a single year of business, generating over $222,766,000 in revenue during 2006, surpassing WWE and boxing. The UFC grossed more revenue in 2006 on PPV than any promotion in history.

In March 2006, the UFC announced the hiring of Marc Ratner, former Executive Director of the Nevada Athletic Commission, as Vice President. Ratner, once an ally of Senator McCain’s campaign against mixed martial arts, was credited as one of the people responsible for the emergence of sanctioned mixed martial arts in the United States. Ratner is expected to help raise the UFC’s profile in the media and to help legalize mixed martial arts in jurisdictions inside and outside the United States that do not sanction mixed martial arts bouts.

The UFC continues its rapid rise from being “an almost unknown promotion” in 2005, to gracing the covers of Sports Illustrated and ESPN The Magazine in May 2007.[18] UFC programming is now shown in 36 countries worldwide,[19] and the UFC plans to continue expanding internationally, running shows regularly in Canada and the United Kingdom, with an office established in the UK aimed to expand the European UFC audience.[20] Low fighter payouts for some fighters have been a common criticism of the UFC, causing some to call the promotion “U Fight for Cheap.”[21]

On March 27, 2007 The UFC and PRIDE Fighting Championships (Pride) (UFC’s main competitor) announced an agreement where the majority owners of the UFC, Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, would purchase the PRIDE organization.[22][23] While both organizations will be otherwise separately run, the two organizations will be aligned together and plan to co-promote supercards featuring champions and top contenders from both organizations.