Mixed Martial Arts has been around for centuries worldwide, but it was in 1993 when Mixed Martial Arts competition arrived in America. It was November 12, 1993, at the McNichols Sports Arena, in Denver, Colorado, when the Ultimate Fighting Championship held its very first event. It was an eight-man tournament with the winner having to win three fights in a row to take home the 50,000 dollars rewarded to the winner. There were no weight limits, there were no time limits, both men fought until either someone got knocked out, submitted, or if their corner threw in the towel, and there were only two rules: no eye gouging or biting. You could kick to the groin, head-butt, pull hair, anything you chose, just as long as you didn't try and gouge someone's eyes or bite them (good thing Mike Tyson was a boxer.) Despite there being no weight limits, it only took the 6'1", 170 pound, Royce Gracie, a total of 4:59 seconds to capture the first ever UFC event. Still, this was looked as being a sport that was considered to be violent and cruel and had a very small fan base at this time. Politicians were campaigning to have the UFC unsanctioned in all 50 states, and they were pretty successful because 36 of the 50 states would not sanction Mixed Martial Arts events. This is when the UFC and other MMA organizations knew they needed to reform their sport.
It was on February 7, 1997 at the Dothan Civic Center in Dothan, Alabama, when the UFC finally started heading towards the right direction at UFC 12. This was the first time in the UFC that they actually had weight classes. Still, it was nothing like we see today, with seven different weight classes. There were only two weight classes at UFC 12, but it was a start to regulate the sport. Also, UFC 12 was the first event that Joe Rogan was apart of as a commentator. UFC 12 was originally supposed to be in New York, but due to the backlash from politicians, New York would not sanction the event and they had to head down South to Alabama for UFC 12. This was a big eye opener, knowing that they had to regulate the sport if they wanted to become a legitimate sport, and if they wanted to hold events in big venues. As the UFC events continued, the regulation on rules continued to improve. At UFC 14 all fighters had to wear gloves and kicks to the head of a downed opponent were removed. UFC 15 banned hair pulling, groin strikes, head-butting, and strikes to the back of the neck and head. It was not until UFC 21 that five-minute rounds were introduced. Finally, close to six years after UFC 1, the UFC was going down the right path to become a legitimate sport and on the way to becoming the fastest growing sport this country has ever witnessed. On November 17, 2000, the UFC was finally sanctioned in a state not in the South, when New Jersey sanctioned UFC 28. Then, after UFC 28, there were three men that made the smart decision's of their lives.
Dana White, Frank Fertitta, and Lorenzo Fertitta bought the UFC from the Semaphore Entertainment Group for two million dollars. Everyone thought these guys were making a horrible business decision because the UFC was not an organization that many thought could make money. However, Dana White and the Fertitta brother's knew exactly what they were doing. They saw a sport that was on the brink of becoming a legitimate sport after the UFC finally regulated rules and gained more and more popularity. They bought the UFC at the right time and knew exactly what needed to be done to become one of the best sports in the world. Lorenzo Fertitta was a former member of the Nevada Sports Athletic Commission so it was easy for the UFC to get sanctioned in Nevada. UFC 33, was the first mixed martial arts event to be sanctioned in Las Vegas, but UFC 33 ended up being one of the worst cards in UFC history. The UFC finally got sanctioned in Las Vegas and had a good opportunity to shine to gain more popularity, but then Tito Ortiz and Vladimir Matyushenko, along with Jens Pulver and Dennis Hallman, put up two of the most boring championship fights in UFC history. (Even worse than Anderson Silva vs Thales Leites). Despite the criticism of UFC 33, the UFC was still able to land a television deal with Fox Sports Net. In June 2002, The Best Damn Sports Show aired the first ever mixed martial arts event on cable television. UFC 37.5 had fighters on the card such as Robbie Lawler, Pete Spratt, and Yves Edwards, but they were banking on Vitor Belfort and Chuck Liddell putting on a show in the main event, which they did of course. Six months later on November 22, 2002, at UFC 40, was when the Fertitta brother's and Dana White knew they could finally get MMA the mainstream it needed. Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock was one of the most anticipated fights in UFC history. Ken Shamrock was returning to the UFC, his first fight back in the UFC since 1996. Also, other fighters on the card included Chuck Liddell, Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Matt Hughes, Pete Spratt, Carlos Newton, Robbie Lawler, Vladimir Matyushenko, and Andrei Arlovski. Still, Shamrock and Ortiz was the fight everyone wanted to see. The trash talking for this fight presented a lot of hype for the fight and it was one of the first times we ever saw two fighters on a network show hyping up their fight. Both men were on the Best Damn Sports Show talking trash back and forth hyping up their fight. The fight lived up to the hype, as Tito Ortiz whooped the old man's ass and kept his belt. UFC 40 did something that no other UFC event had ever done. Mainstream media outlets were covering the event, ESPN, USA Today, and many other newspaper's covered the event, and the UFC was finally on big-time media outlets. This event had more than four times the amount of pay-per-view buys than any other UFC event that Zuffa had ever put on. Even though UFC 40 was a huge success for White and the Fertitta's, they had lost over 30 million dollars since purchasing the UFC in 2001. This is when they knew they needed to make another big move to try and become more mainstream.
Hello Ultimate Fighter. This was the single, biggest decision that Dana White and the Fertitta brother's ever made. The Ultimate Fighter was a major success, and even though their idea got shut down by the big networks, Spike television knew this could be a huge hit. Dana White knew that which ever four fighters made it to the Finale, they would have to put on a huge show, and it was even bigger than that. Diego Sanchez dismantled Kenny Florian to become the first ever Middleweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter, but this was nothing to what the Light Heavyweight's did. Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin put on a 15-minute war, which was by far the most important fight in UFC histroy. Dana White could not of even imagined these guys putting on this kind of war and if I had to guess what Dana White was thinking at this instance it would be this: cha-ching$$$!! Bonnar and Griffin was the type of fight when you were watching the first round you were on your cell phone calling up all of your buddies, and saying are you watching this! Turn it to Spike, this fight is f***ing crazy bro! At least this is how I recall it. I must of called 20 of my friends, and then they probably called 20 of their friends, and so on. This is exactly what Dana White was hoping for, and the UFC has just continued to rise in tremendous strides towards becoming one of the best sports in the world. I really believe if The Ultimate Fighter had not been started that the UFC would have become bankrupt and MMA would still be were it was at in the 20th century. Also, the success of The Ultimate Fighter paved the way for Spike to start showing UFC Unleashed and also UFC Countdown shows. Finally, after close to four years have passed since White and the Fertitta's purchased the UFC, it was finally becoming what they knew it could become. They still knew that fighter's would have to step up to the plate and put on amazing shows to keep gaining the popularity.
Dana White knew the exact two guys to have on the first pay-per-view after The Ultimate Fighter: Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture. Also, others on the card included Matt Hughes, George St. Pierre, Jason "Mayhem" Miller, Frank Trigg, Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Joe Riggs, Mike Van Arsdale, and Patrick Cote. UFC 52 doubled the previous high in pay-per-view buys with 300,000 for this event. This was due in large part of the success the UFC achieved from The Ultimate Fighter because so many fans were tuned in watching The Ultimate Fighter Finale because of two men: Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin. Chuck Liddell revenged his loss against The Natural knocking him out in the first round. (I had to get that in there because The Iceman was and always will be my favorite fighter to ever step inside the octagon.) From there, the UFC just kept gaining in popularity in huge strides, I don't even think Dana White was sure how fast this sport would grow. UFC 60 produced 620,000 pay-per-view buys when Matt Hughes took on a legend in Royce Gracie. Royce Gracie ranks up their with Griffin and Bonnar as being the most important person ever in MMA. Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar put on the most important fight in UFC history, but Royce Gracie was the most important fighter in UFC history. UFC 66 was the first time that the pay-per-view buys reached over one million when Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell fought for the second time. 2006 was the year the UFC proved it could hang with the big boys on pay-per-view. The UFC broke the record for most pay-per-view buys in one year, generating over 222,766,000 million dollars. Boxing and the WWE could not hang with the UFC, which was a significant accomplish for the UFC, but more importantly the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. This led to Roger Huerta being on the cover of Sports Illustrated, when him and Leonard Garcia put on one of the best fights in UFC history. Also, Chuck Liddell was on the cover of ESPN the Magazine. MMA fighters were finally being looked at as being superior athletes like NBA, MLB, and NFL stars.
Currently, the UFC is now shown in more than 130 countries worldwide. Dana White and the Fertitta brother's accomplished what they knew could be achieved. MMA is the fastest growing sport that we have seen, and is continuing to rise in tremendous strides. There have been hundreds of UFC events, but UFC 100 was a symbol that the UFC showed that they are here to stay. Not many people thought the UFC would be around to have 100 events, but because of the help of Dana White and the Fertitta brothers, they accomplished this tremendous achievement. MMA continues to rise in popularity, and when people laughed at Dana White when he said this was going to be the most popular sport in the world, he knew exactly what he was talking about. Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar were the two guys who got this sport to mainstream, but it has been the hundreds of other fighters who made it happen. Guys such as Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, Randy Couture, Rich Franklin, Anderson Silva, Matt Hughes, and many other veterans of the sport who put on the fights after The Ultimate Fighter Finale to achieve greatness in the sport of MMA. Young guys such as Jon Jones, George St. Pierre, Dominick Cruz, Frankie Edgar, Jose Aldo, Cain Velasquez, and many other young studs will keep this sport growing at a huge rate. Also, with the help of Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan broadcasting these events, they have become the voices of the UFC, and when you think of the UFC these two guys always come to mind.
MMA had a long road to go, and specifically the UFC, but even when things weren't looking good for the sport they never gave up. Politicians wanted this sport to fail, tons of people wanted this sport to fail, but that was never on the minds of Dana White, Lorenzo Fertitta, and Frank Fertitta. These three men risked a lot in a business that was set up to fail, but yet, they turned it into a huge success and are the main reason why MMA is were it is at today. MMA continues to gain huge popularity in hundreds of different countries, and will only continue to accomplish great feats. The UFC was going against the odds, but this only made the organization stronger. The Ultimate Fighter was the smartest business move the UFC made, and we continue to see The Ultimate Fighter be a huge success as they are set to air the 14th season of The Ultimate Fighter this Fall. UFC and Spike's contract ends after 2011 is over, and we are close to seeing The Ultimate Fighter and the UFC have many options to sign with a big time network in 2012. The UFC continues to grow at tremendous strides, and it will continue to grow as a sport and be up there with the ranks of the NFL, MLB, and the NBA. Remember, it took all of these other sports a lot longer to gain the popularity and success that MMA has achieved in 18 short years. And, when just looking at the UFC since the Fertitta brother's and Dana White purchased the UFC in 2001, look how fast MMA has risen in these short ten years. This Fall, the UFC is putting on huge fights. UFC 135 has the likes of Rampage Jackson vs Jon Jones and Matt Hughes vs Diego Sanchez. UFC 136 has the likes of Frankie Edgar vs Gray Maynard, Jose Aldo vs Kenny Florian, Brian Stann vs Chael Sonnen, Jeremy Stephens vs Anthony Pettis, Melvin Guillard vs Joe Lauzon, and Jorge Santiago vs Demian Maia. (This card will be better than UFC 132, which in my opinion, was easily the best card of the year.) UFC 137 has the likes of George St. Pierre vs Nick Diaz, BJ Penn vs Carlos Condit, Cheick Kongo vs Matt Mitrione, Dennis Siver vs Sam Stout, and Mirko Crop Cop vs Roy Nelson. The UFC will only continue to put on amazing events because there are so many talented mixed martial artists. Now, instead of our young generation wanting to become boxers, they now want to compete in MMA. Boxing is a sport for the older generation, but MMA is the most popular sport among our young generation, and just imagine 15 years from now how big MMA is going to be. The UFC had a long way to go, but when faced with adversity they fought back and have achieved what they knew could be done. MMA is the fastest growing sport in the world, and in the next 50 years we could see MMA being the most popular sport in the world.
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