Ultimate Fighting Championships is an organization based on Mixed Martial Arts. This is a U.S based organization and is currently in North America.
Art Davie was the one who initiated these championships in the form of a tournament. Davie was an advertising executive based in Southern California. He was Rorion Gracie’s student and Gracie’s action videos inspired Davie to initiate this tournament. Gracie was also the director for this tournament.
These tournaments were working under the title “War of the Worlds” also called “WOW”. To give it further recognition, this tournament was promoted and sponsored by twenty-eight investors. These investors aimed at promoting these championships on television.
This tournament was mainly held to find the World’s best fighter using any martial arts style. It was an Eight-man, Single elimination tournament and had no rules under any category, which also included the weight category. This led to a lot of problems between the opponents, as they had to fight with someone who was either too big or too small for them.
As a tournament it was termed the “No holds Barred fighting”. They gave themselves the tagline of “There are no Rules”. Thus all violent acts like pulling hair, biting etc were allowed while the opponents fought. These liberties made the event very violent and scary to attend, drawing back many martial arts fans.
These tournaments were turning more entertaining than sporty. All of this turned negative for UFC and they were turned down by a lot of political pressures that slowly started wiping out their good will as a championship tournament. UFC events were also banned in a number of American states.
It was at this time, when UFC slowly and steadily formed a set of rules and regulations and became strict with it. It started marketing itself as a sports event and tuned down the “No holds barred fighting” into a complete profession “Mixed martial arts” events. The “Athletic Commissions” then approved UFC as one of the Martial Arts Organization. This then made it more acceptable to both the political and social crowds.
The UFC is currently operated by “Zuffa” and is based in Las Vegas. The New Jersey Athletic Control Board has approved its Current sets of rules. UFC is now the world’s most prestigious Mixed Martial Arts organization. Its been spoken about around the globe.
The UFC currently uses five weight classes:
- Lightweight: 146 to 155 lb (66 to 70 kg).
- Welterweight: 156 to 170 lb (77 kg).
- Middleweight: 171 to 185 lb (84 kg).
- Light Heavyweight: 186 to 205 lb (93 kg).
- Heavyweight: 206 to 265 lb (120 kg).
Its wide spread media coverage is now making it visible in the United States, as well as in Australia, Britain, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Brazil and Ireland.
