For MMA fans, it's hard to remember a time when MMA wasn't a prominent player in the world of sports. However, it's only been around officially for about 30 years, and it took quite a few years to build up a solid following. There were many important events in MMA along the way and while the creation of the Ultimate Fighting Championship was a huge step in the history of MMA, there are still others that also have helped legitimize and expand the sport.
UFC 1 was notable obviously as the first UFC event and was broadcast only on pay-per-view. About 86,000 people paid to watch this pivotal fight at home back in 1993. The first UFC event to garner more than one million buys was UFC 91 in 2008 which featured a main card that included main card fights between Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar, as well as Kenny Florian and Joe Stevenson.
While some people probably think watching MMA would be more interesting without rules, most sports have them and they do tend to make things safer for athletes and hopefully as fair as possible. For many years, different MMA organizations in the United States had differing rules, but in 2009, the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts were adopted formally and these rules have been used by many organizations since the early 2000s. Not only do the rules protect fighters, they lend legitimacy to a sport that was once criticized as "human cockfighting" by a certain United States senator named John McCain.
Building an audience has been a big challenge in mixed martial arts, but there have been a few big steps along the way. In 2005, Spike TV began a show called The Ultimate Fighter (now filming its 18th season). Two seasoned MMA veterans, Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell, trained young fighters for a chance to earn the title of Ultimate Fighter. The show has been a huge success, attracting early fans of MMA and earning new fans to the sport. In addition, it's notable because it truly showcases the work and high level of skill required by MMA fighters.
For many years, women were not part of mixed martial arts and certain people truly didn't believe they belonged in the sport or were even interesting to watch (Dana White). While UFC refused for many years to sanction fights between women, more forward-thinking organizations such as Bellator and Strikeforce recognized the potential. One of the first notable fights for women was the 2009 Strikeforce event that pit Cristiane Justino against Gina Carano. Not only was this a good showcase of the strong MMA skills that women can possess, it was great entertainment and the interest has only grown from this point.
It took Dana White and the UFC 30 years to include women on the fight card, but when they finally did, it was in a big way. During UFC 157 in February, 2013, Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche went head to head during the main fight of the night, which had a total gate of more than $1.3 million.
UFC 1 was notable obviously as the first UFC event and was broadcast only on pay-per-view. About 86,000 people paid to watch this pivotal fight at home back in 1993. The first UFC event to garner more than one million buys was UFC 91 in 2008 which featured a main card that included main card fights between Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar, as well as Kenny Florian and Joe Stevenson.
While some people probably think watching MMA would be more interesting without rules, most sports have them and they do tend to make things safer for athletes and hopefully as fair as possible. For many years, different MMA organizations in the United States had differing rules, but in 2009, the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts were adopted formally and these rules have been used by many organizations since the early 2000s. Not only do the rules protect fighters, they lend legitimacy to a sport that was once criticized as "human cockfighting" by a certain United States senator named John McCain.
Building an audience has been a big challenge in mixed martial arts, but there have been a few big steps along the way. In 2005, Spike TV began a show called The Ultimate Fighter (now filming its 18th season). Two seasoned MMA veterans, Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell, trained young fighters for a chance to earn the title of Ultimate Fighter. The show has been a huge success, attracting early fans of MMA and earning new fans to the sport. In addition, it's notable because it truly showcases the work and high level of skill required by MMA fighters.
For many years, women were not part of mixed martial arts and certain people truly didn't believe they belonged in the sport or were even interesting to watch (Dana White). While UFC refused for many years to sanction fights between women, more forward-thinking organizations such as Bellator and Strikeforce recognized the potential. One of the first notable fights for women was the 2009 Strikeforce event that pit Cristiane Justino against Gina Carano. Not only was this a good showcase of the strong MMA skills that women can possess, it was great entertainment and the interest has only grown from this point.
It took Dana White and the UFC 30 years to include women on the fight card, but when they finally did, it was in a big way. During UFC 157 in February, 2013, Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche went head to head during the main fight of the night, which had a total gate of more than $1.3 million.
About the Author:
Rod Bourgoine likes blogging about mixed martial arts benefits. For more info about San Diego mixed martial arts classes or to find a jiu jitsu gym in San Diego, go to The Arena MMA website now.
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