MMA is one of the most interesting sports in the world. Bringing martial artists from around the world into a cage and making them fight till someone is unconscious, submits or time runs out evokes a mad excitement amongst both casual and die hard MMA fans.
Whenever you think of mixed martial arts, you think of the UFC. The ultimate fighting championship has grown to become the biggest MMA organisation in the world today. President of the UFC, Dana White, has built the organisation to what it is but it wasnt always this popular.
Back in the early 90’s the very first UFC event took place, in a very low profile manner. It was a no rules event that would act as an answer to many martial arts related questions such as can a wrestler beat a boxer and can a jui jitsu practitioner beat a pure striker. The entertainment value was there but the credibility wasnt. Alot of people labelled it human cock fighting and very few, if any, media outlets would go near it.
The event was notable for the emergence of royce gracie, a jui jitsu practitioner who won a 16 man tournament by introducing the jui jitsu style to a number of unknowing opponents.
In the early 2000’s, after the advice of Dana White, Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta took a chance on the UFC and bought it for $2 million. The fertittas were brothers who owned a number of casinos across the United States. Dana White would become the president.
The years rolled by and the UFC started to gain some popularity, the sport had become alot more cleaner and the rules had become more stricter. They began featuring soon to be household names like Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, Randy Coutour and BJ Penn. Fighters that would captivate a very steadily growing audience. The UFC were still not where they need to be financially until they launched The Ultimate Fighter series. This is a reality based television show that would showcase the personalities of up and coming fighters and pit them against each other for a chance to win a six figure contract at the end. In the words of dana white “”. The first season of the show was funded by Dana and then co owners Lorenzo and Frank Fretitta. Thanks to an epic season finale fight between Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin, The show was a success and the UFC found a platform to grow and become mainstream.
Between the mid 2000’s to 2016. The UFC enjoyed huge success under the management of Dana White and the Fertitta brothers. The organisation became a credible sport and produced some of the greatest athletes in the world who would go on to become household names. Fighters like George St Pierre, Ronda Rousey, Anderson Silva and Jon Jones were showcasing their skills in the now world famous octagon and as a result they became more popular around the world. As a result of the UFC’s success, more MMA promotions started to emerge around this time. The likes of Strikeforce and WEC found a platform to showcase their MMA athletes but the UFC was ‘Ultimately’ the biggest game in town and they soon bought out their competition.
In 2016, The $2 million dollar gamble had paid off in a spectacular way. The UFC was bought for about $4 billion by a group named Endeavor. The sale is considered one of the biggest in the history of sports and stands as a landmark moment for a sport that nobody wanted any association with.
The UFC keeps going from strength to strength. The face of the UFC, Dana White has continued to take the sport forward with deals with ESPN and Abu Dhabi, The development of a performance institute and even showing bravery in the face of the COVID pandemic by finding ways to keep the show going.