42 Facts About UFC

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

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

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

UFC 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 sanctioned by the athletic commissions, many of which exist to this day.

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

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

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

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

Beyond the rivalry itself, the success of UFC 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 continued to create and air new seasons until the show moved to FX in 2012.

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

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

In March 2006, the UFC 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 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 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 100 drew interest from ESPN, which provided coverage of the event in the days preceding and following it.

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

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

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

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In May 2018, UFC reached new U S 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 Fight Pass will be purchasable as an add-on for ESPN+ to stream pay-per-view events.

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

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

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

UFC 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 officials said that though the agreement represents the most valuable non-broadcast contract the company has ever signed, the UFC will not directly profit from the new deal.

UFC announced in October 2021, that Avex Brasil, local producer of Venum brand apparel, has been named the exclusive manufacturer and distributor of UFC 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 replica fight kits and fight week apparel for men and women and distribute the product through the country.

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

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

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

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

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