Ultimate Fighting Championship UFC Information

The UFC - Ultimate Fighting Championship

Rare Information

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (commonly referred to as the UFC) began as a mixed martial arts fighting tournament that was more akin to the Kumite that was made famous in the movie "Bloodsport" where Jean Claude Van Damme portrayed American fighter Frank Dux. The tournament paired fighters of different disciplines against each other. The early UFC tournaments commonly saw Karate practitioners taking on street fighters or wrestlers squaring off against boxers.

However all disciplines seemed irrelevant when they were put face to face with Jiu Jitsu - actually Gracie Jiu Jitsu. Royce Gracie dominated the early UFCs with his family's version of the martial art which is still prevalent in today's radically evolved Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) world.

Some theorize that there were other Gracies more capable than Royce, but that the hall of fame fighter was chosen to represent the family due to his small frame and weight. At just over one hundred seventy pounds, it was very impressive to see Royce dominate men nearly twice his size.

After Gracie dominated the first three UFCs, competitors realized that a more rounded out style was needed. Thus came the early days of the fighters we see today who develop skills in multiple disciplines. Royce Gracie forced MMA to live up to its name. He helped emphasize the "Mixed" in MMA.

Today's fighters rely on a mixture of striking, grappling, submissions. Any and all fighting techniques are incorporated into a package that culminates in a hybrid warrior, a melting pot of centuries of disciplines.

However, today's MMA fighters are still in the early stages of this sport. It will take several more years before these ancient disciplines are fully incorporated into the modern MMA arena. Traditional application of a martial art or combat sport (like wrestling) is fine when competing against another practitioner of the same discipline, but in MMA the disciplines need to be adapted and altered to prove effective.

An example involving boxing would see a boxer facing the kicking and takedown counters from an MMA opponent that aren't a concern in traditional boxing. Even a great boxer like former champion, Ray "Merciless" Mercer, was dismantled quickly by rookie Kimbo Slice in an MMA bout. Mercer wasn't prepared to handle being taken down.

Many people see the Ultimate Fighting Championship as a sport rather than an organization. Some people call MMA ultimate fighting. It is not, but that doesn't stop the term from being thrown around.

Dana White was able to bring the UFC back from a near knockout blow when he convinced two of his friends to pony up a few million and form ZUFFA LLC. The Fertita brothers and White bought the UFC and made some changes. However, Dana and company weren't the only ones with an interest in the nearly bankrupt organization.

Back when the UFC was on its last leg and Rob Meyrowitz seemed to have lost his ability to steamroll the fighting organization, I purchased the url http://www.ultimatefigtingchampioship.com with the hopes of acquiring the fledging UFC and breathing new life into the company - kickstarting MMA.

I was not as well finaced as ZUFFA, and my dreams were never realized, but I maintained the website after an ICANN WIPO dispute with ZUFFA LLC.