Ultimate Fighting Championship is a professional sports league that organizes competition in mixed martial arts. Although the UFC is relatively new, the sport of mixed martial arts has a long history. Despite a relatively short history, UFC has evolved significantly since its founding.
Origins
UFC fighting and mixed martial arts have their origins in Pankration, a sport that was featured at the 33rd ancient Olympic Games, held in 648 BC. The sport was unique for its time because it involved fighting with both hands and feet. Despite Pankration's inclusion in ancient Olympic Games until 393 A.D., the sport was not included in the modern day Olympics when new sports were established in 1895.
UFC Founding
The UFC was born out of the War of the Worlds martial arts tournament proposed in 1992 by advertising executive Art Davie. The tournament was to decide a world champion from eight competitors in a single-elimination setup. Although Showtime and HBO turned down the proposed tournament, the Semaphore Entertainment Group agreed to partner with Davie and his team, dubbing the tournament Ultimate Fighting Championship in May 1993.
First UFC Tournament
The first official UFC event was held in Denver, Colorado, on Nov. 12, 1993. The original UFC tournament featured athletes from a wide array of combat sports, including a boxer, a sumo wrestler, a karate expert and a black belt in jiu-jitsu. The broadcast of the event reached more than 86,000 viewers.
Early Controversies
The original UFC rules were bare bones; among other concerns, the rules did not take size into consideration, which led to some memorable mismatches, according to Complete Martial Arts. For instance, UFC 3 featured one match with competitors that had a 9-inch height difference and a 400-lb. weight difference. The UFC faced external controversies as well, with several states banning UFC events and a senatorial letter-writing campaign resulting in several cable TV distributors dropping UFC broadcasts.
Overcoming Safety Concerns
After facing criticism in some states, UFC worked with several other states to establish rules to keep the competition legal. Among other organizations, UFC worked with the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board and the California State Athletic Commission to establish rules to protect fighters and viewers. In addition to other changes, gloves were made mandatory, and weight classes were established at UFC 12 to level the playing field. UFC 15 brought about limits on how fighters could strike opponents, banning headbutts, among other means of contact.
Modern UFC
The UFC has gained popularity due to television broadcasting agreements with networks such as Spike TV. According to UFC, the tournament is recognized and regulated by at least six state regulatory bodies and "strives for the highest levels of safety and quality in all aspects of the sport."
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