You may be watching boxing and wrestling sports for a long time. You might have come up with a question – Is a boxer or a wrestler a better fighter?
This age-old question may be answered by the Ultimate Fighting Championship i.e. UFC. It is an organization of mixed-martial arts. The two opponents in this sport are allowed to use different techniques of fighting. UFC is played in a ring which is octagonal in shape. The warriors meet in the ring to combat and knock each other till the state of unconsciousness. The fighter blows and imposes explosive pain on the opponent’s body forcing him to give up. UFC started initially as a minor event or tournament. Later it turned out to be a multi-million dollar sanctioned organization. Its popularity has been growing year after year.Watching mixed-martial arts fight is an energy-bursting excitement. It has been witnesses by the brainchild of Art Davie, a creative advertising executive. He found out that this sport has all the necessary elements that people find in boxing, karate, or hockey. He thoroughly examined MMA and drawn a conclusion that it is a mixture of all the fighting techniques. He sought the help of Rorion Gracie, a Brazilian legend in MMA technique training and John Milius, a screenwriter who later on became the creative director. They worked together and brought in 27 investors which finally lead to the beginning of Ultimate Fighting Championship.
In its early days UFC had limited rules. There were no specific groups of the fighters. A 400lb fighter was maid to fight with a 100lb fighter. There was blood sprayed all around the octagon ring. It resulted into a great confusion and chaos. As a result, UFC became an underground fighting spectacle. Senator John McCain of Arizona and some other people advocated and protested against the existence of such an extreme and cruel sport. The cable distributors soon dropped down the telecast of UFC which further reduced the number of audience.
As it had no rules, no cable access and no audience it was on the verge of its demise. Now it was necessary to re-evaluate the situation. The organization then introduced protective rules for the safety of the fighters. They further introduced the weight classes as lightweight, middleweight and heavy weight. The fighters were not allowed to hit pressure points areas and the areas at the back of the neck and head. The fighters had to wear the protective gloves. Five minutes round were introduced. After setting the rule it was time to get it officially recognized by fighting associations. After their approval the first sanctioned event of UFC took place in New Jersey under the State Athletic Control Board's Unified Rules. UFC was now a legitimate sport.
At this time two casino executives including a boxing promoter won the bid and bought the UFC for $2 million in 2001. The sanctioning of the Nevada State Athletic Commission was done the same year which returned to Pay-per-view. The popularity slowly went on increasing. In 2002 it was aired on the Fox Sports Net channel. Thus, this was the comeback of UFC.