54 Facts About UFC Unleashed

UFC Unleashed was founded by businessman Art Davie and Brazilian martial artist Rorion Gracie, and the first event was held in 1993 at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado.

The UFC Unleashed had a reputation, especially in the early days, as an extremely violent event.

UFC Unleashed 5 introduced the first singles match, a rematch from the inaugural UFC Unleashed featuring three-time champion Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock, called "The Superfight".

UFC Unleashed led a campaign to ban the UFC, calling it "human cockfighting", and sent letters to the governors of all 50 US states asking them to ban it.

The UFC Unleashed continued to air on DirecTV PPV, though its audience remained minuscule compared to the era's larger cable pay-per-view platforms.

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UFC Unleashed 12 saw the introduction of weight classes and the banning of fish-hooking.

UFC Unleashed 15 saw limitations on hair pulling, and the banning of strikes to the back of the neck and head, headbutting, small-joint manipulations, and groin strikes.

Blatnick, McCarthy, and matchmaker Joe Silva created a manual of policies, procedures, codes of conduct, and rules to help in getting the UFC Unleashed sanctioned by the athletic commissions, many of which exist to this day.

Just two months later, the UFC Unleashed held its first sanctioned event, UFC Unleashed 28, under the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board's "Unified Rules".

Shortly thereafter, the UFC Unleashed returned to pay-per-view cable television with UFC Unleashed 33 featuring three championship bouts.

UFC Unleashed slowly rose in popularity after the Zuffa purchase, due partly to greater advertising, corporate sponsorship, the return to cable pay-per-view, and subsequent home video and DVD releases.

UFC Unleashed 40 proved to be the most critical event to date in the Zuffa era.

UFC Unleashed 40 garnered mainstream attention from media outlets such as ESPN and USA Today, something that was unfathomable for mixed martial arts at that point in time.

The success of UFC Unleashed 40 provided a glimmer of hope for the UFC Unleashed and kept alive the hope that mixed martial arts could become big.

Beyond the rivalry itself, the success of UFC Unleashed 40 was due in part to the marketing and outreach power of crossover athletes – from Pro Wrestling to MMA and MMA to Pro Wrestling – a practice with roots in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships.

Spike and the UFC Unleashed continued to create and air new seasons until the show moved to FX in 2012.

Spike signed on to broadcast live UFC Unleashed Fight Night, a series of fight events debuting in August 2005, and Countdown specials to promote upcoming UFC Unleashed pay-per-view cards.

Our 6-year partnership with the UFC Unleashed has been incredibly beneficial in building both our brands, and we wish them all the best in the future.

In March 2006, the UFC Unleashed announced that it had hired Marc Ratner, former executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission, as Vice President of Regulatory Affairs.

At the time, the UFC Unleashed had an exclusive deal with Spike, so the purchase of the WEC allowed Zuffa to block the IFL from Versus without violating their contract.

UFC Unleashed continued its rapid rise from near obscurity with Roger Huerta gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated and Chuck Liddell on the front of ESPN The Magazine in May 2007.

UFC Unleashed 100 drew interest from ESPN, which provided coverage of the event in the days preceding and following it.

On November 5,2016, the UFC Unleashed had their first exhibition in New York City after years of being delayed by government officials and red tape with a dramatic first match, Conor McGregor vs Eddie Alvarez.

Zuffa, the parent company of the UFC Unleashed, purchased World Extreme Cagefighting in late 2006 and held the first WEC event under new ownership on January 20,2007.

The UFC Unleashed made the last WEC Featherweight and Bantamweight Champions, Jose Aldo and Dominick Cruz respectively, the inaugural UFC Unleashed Champions of their new weight divisions.

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UFC Unleashed subsequently became the first female UFC champion, the first Olympic medalist with a UFC title, and the first woman to defend a UFC title.

On December 11,2013, the UFC Unleashed purchased the contracts of 11 female fighters from Invicta Fighting Championships to launch their 115-pound Strawweight division.

The Philippines was the most recent Asian country that the UFC Unleashed has visited, with UFC Unleashed Fight Night: Edgar vs Faber in 2015.

The UFC Unleashed followed suit and banned the use of TRT for any of their events, including international markets where the UFC Unleashed oversees regulatory efforts.

On July 9,2016, it was officially announced that the UFC Unleashed would be sold to a group led by WME–IMG, its owner Silver Lake Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, and MSD Capital, for $4.

In May 2018, UFC Unleashed reached new US media rights deals with Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International and ESPN Inc, succeeding those with 21st Century Fox, which began in January 2019.

UFC Unleashed Fight Pass will be purchasable as an add-on for ESPN+ to stream pay-per-view events.

On July 18,2018, it was announced that UFC Unleashed had entered into a partnership with Russian MMA promoter M-1 Global.

UFC Unleashed disclosed plans to secure a private island, known as "Fight Island", to host events with international fighters.

The official UFC Unleashed gloves are constructed in a way that leaves the fighters fingers extended forward, whereas there are alternative gloves, which the UFC Unleashed has not used, which are curved at the knuckle and keep a fighter's fingers tucked down.

UFC Unleashed announced a partnership with United States Anti-Doping Agency on June 3,2015, as the UFC Unleashed's official, independent anti-doping agency.

In February 2017, UFC Unleashed made changes to the anti-doping policy, effective April 1,2017, as follows: Fighters who are new to the UFC Unleashed with no previous contract would be subject to a one-month testing rule.

UFC Unleashed matches vary in maximum length, depending on whether the match is for a Championship title, or is a fight card's "main event" fight.

UFC Unleashed 263 marked the first time in UFC Unleashed history that a non-title bout other than the main-event was scheduled for 5 rounds.

UFC Unleashed cage is an octagonal structure with walls of metal chain-link fence coated with black vinyl.

Financial terms of the six-year partnership were not released, but UFC Unleashed officials said that though the agreement represents the most valuable non-broadcast contract the company has ever signed, the UFC Unleashed will not directly profit from the new deal.

On July 11,2020, UFC Unleashed announced Venum as the exclusive outfitting partner from April 2021: UFC Unleashed on ABC: Vettori vs Holland was the first event with Venum outfits.

UFC Unleashed announced in October 2021, that Avex Brasil, local producer of Venum brand apparel, has been named the exclusive manufacturer and distributor of UFC Unleashed Replica Fight Kits and Fight Week apparel sold through retailers in Brazil.

Under the terms of the agreement, Avex Brasil will manufacture officially licensed UFC Unleashed replica fight kits and fight week apparel for men and women and distribute the product through the country.

UFC Unleashed currently uses nine weight classes: Updated as of July 30,2022, after UFC Unleashed 277.

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MMA journalists and fans have criticized the UFC Unleashed for putting on too many shows and thus diluting the quality of their product.

UFC Unleashed fighters are paid a substantially lower share of revenue than athletes in comparable sports, and other large MMA promotions.

UFC Unleashed fighters are paid per fight, with amounts depending on how well-known the fighters are and how well sponsored a fighter and an event is.

UFC Unleashed is contractually bound to offer every fighter three fights per calendar year and if they don't, the organization has to pay the fighter for the lacking fights.

For example, if the UFC Unleashed offers a fighter only one fight during the year, they have to pay the fighter for two additional fights.

On June 10,2008, it was announced that UFC Unleashed had signed an exclusive four-year contract with Jakks Pacific to create action figures for UFC Unleashed.

The UFC Unleashed Fight Pass application was planned for PlayStation 4 in early 2015.

In Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, and Papua New Guinea, UFC Unleashed events are broadcast on Fox Movies Premium and Fox Sports.

In Indonesia, UFC Unleashed events are currently broadcast on tvOne starting January 15,2018; previously, this events was broadcast on RCTI, iNews since 2012 until the end of 2017.