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About UFC
Welcome to UFC Store
Ultimate Fighting Championship History: Introduction The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is a sport that brings together the worlds most talented Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) athletes. The UFC was created in 1993 as a made for pay-per-view spectacle to garner worldwide attention. There never was a plan to proceed beyond one or two shows. The idea was to bring together champions of various martial arts and Olympic sports, such as karate, jiu-jitsu, boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, sumo and other disciplines to determine which style would be most successful in a tournament. International support for the event was enormous. What began as a mere spectacle was transformed into one of the worlds most entertaining sporting events. Over the course of its eight-year existence and 31 events, the UFC has become the premier mixed martial arts event in the world, featuring competitors of multiple disciplines in a quest to become an ultimate fighting champion. The all-new Ultimate Fighting Championship The all-new UFC features a strong ownership and management team with years of experience in business development, sports and entertainment. By establishing strong, committed relationships with state athletic commissions and other martial arts venues, the UFC has plans to elevate MMA to major league status among all sports and build UFC fighters into international stars. Ultimately, the new UFC is committed to providing the highest quality live event and television production available to entertain consumers worldwide and promote MMA. Ownership/management Lorenzo Fertitta serves as the president of Station Casinos, Inc. (NYSE: STN) and chief executive officer (CEO) of Fertitta Enterprises, Inc., an investment management company dealing with securities and real estate. A former vice chairman of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Fertitta received his MBA from the Stern School of Business at New York University (NYU). Frank Fertitta, III is chairman of the board and CEO of Station Casinos, Inc. He expanded Station Casinos into the fifth largest publicly traded gaming company, with more than $1 billion in revenue and million in cash flow. In 1999, Casino Executive Magazine named Fertitta "Hotelier of the Year" and Station Casinos was named "Company of the Year". Zuffas management team includes UFC President Dana White, owner and president of Dana White Enterprises and former manager and trainer for various boxing and MMA competitors. Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Bernie Dillon, the owner and president of Dillon Productions, has promoted and produced ESPN, HBO and Showtime boxing events. Also highlighting the management team is James Werme, UFCs vice president of production and a producer of more than 30 UFC events worldwide, as well as Vice President of Talent Relations Joe Silva, who has been with the UFC since 1993 No Holds Barred / Vale Tudo No Holds Barred, Vale Tudo ("Anything Goes"), Freestyle Fighting - Blends striking with various locking & choking submissions creating a very effective unarmed martial art as well as a very challenging sport. Initially the No Holds Barred type of fighting was dominated by traditional Brazilian Jiu-jitsu fighters (made famous by Royce Gracie & Family in the first UFCs), but over time it has evolved to the point where NHB Fighters will work Boxing for their hands, Muay Thai for their kicking and kneeing, Greco-Roman Wrestling for their take-downs, and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu for their ground control & submissions. Most fighters do a little bit of everything today in order to be "well rounded". The No Holds Barred fighters generally seem to blend aspects from the following arts: Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Greco-Roman & Catch Wrestling, Muay Thai, Western Boxing, Judo, Jujutsu. There are various promoters and organizations for No Holds Barred type fighting with varying rules. Some of the more popular no holds barred organizations are: UFC, Pancrase, Shooto, and Pride to name a few of the big ones. Some organizations allow all striking (punching, elbows, headbutts, kicks, knees) standing and on the ground. Some events limit the striking to open handed (no fists), no elbows, no headbutts... Generally most Judo/Jiu-jitsu types submissions are allowed including: Armbars, Triangle Chokes (Leg Choke), Rear Naked-Chokes, Ankle Locks, Knee Bars, shoulder locks. The only attacks that are prohibited across the board in sanctioned No Holds Barred competitions are: attacking the eyes, fishhooking, striking the groin, throat, spine or knee cap.
MIXED MARTIAL ARTS Mixed martial arts (MMA) is the combat sport in which two competitors attempt to achieve dominance over one another by utilizing three general tactics: striking, finishing holds, and grappling. The rules allow the combatants to use a variety of martial arts techniques, including punches, kicks, joint-locks, chokes, takedowns and throws. Victory is normally gained through knock-out, submission (one fighter concedes victory to the other by tapping the mat or his opponent with his hand), or stoppage by the referee, the fight doctor or a competitor's cornerman.
Mixed-martial arts contests have a long history, dating back at least to the late 1800s when wrestlers representing a huge range of fighting styles including Jujitsu, Catch-as-catch-can, Collar-and-elbow, Graeco-Roman and many others met in tournaments and music-hall challenge matches throughout Europe. However, the vogue for professional wrestling died out after the First World War, only to be reborn in two major streams: "shoot", in which the fighters actually competed, and "show" which became increasingly dependent on choreography and theatrics and evolved into modern professional wrestling. In the early 1990s, two styles stood out for their effectiveness: Wrestling and Brazilian Jujitsu (BJJ). Jiu-Jitsu had the early advantage, since wrestlers were not equipped with a way to defeat them standing or on the ground. However, when wrestlers started training in striking, pure Jiu-Jitsu stylists ran into difficulties since they had a hard time taking the fight to the ground and away from their stand-up weaknesses. This represented the first step of evolution towards cross-training. Wrestling eventually branched into two styles described below: "Ground-and-Pound" (wrestlers who prefer fighting on the ground) and "Clinch-and-Pound" (wrestlers who prefer fighting standing up). Kickboxers and boxers were next to evolve and added grappling skills to their arsenal. In the early days, they could not compete with the grapplers, since they could not avoid the takedowns and had no defense on the ground. After adding ground techniques to their training, they scored some major upsets, and showed that fighters specializing in striking could be effective in the sport. Due to its early dominance, BJJ was the last to evolve. Eventually, Wrestling and Muay Thai were added to their training, and Jiu-Jitsu fighters have returned to being competitive again in the sport. MMA is also considered an evolution of pankration, a combination of striking and grappling that was introduced in the Olympic games in 648 BC. The "Pancrase" fighting promotion in Japan has strong ties to modern MMA and actually predates the first UFC by a few months. All MMA Systems PANKRATION (Greece) (pan-kray-shun) "all powers" A combination of wrestling and boxing already practised as sports by the ancient Greeks, Pankration was added to the Olympic Games in 648 B.C. In order to force their opponents to concede defeat, the Pankration artist uses punches, kicks, grabs, throws, joint-locks, and chokes. Ground fighting is a large part of training. Because of its early date, Pankration is considered by some authorities to be the first true martial art. Also, because Alexander the Great's armies carried the sport with them across the Alps into Asia, and because of the similarities of basic techniques, a number of authorities are of the opinion that the Asian martial arts were based on Pankration, though no other evidence exists to support this. Similar Styles: Mu Tau - a modern version of Pankration.
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