Ultimate Fighting Championship

Ultimate Fighting Championship is an American based mixed martial arts organization. Fighters in the sport utilise a combination of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, boxing, wrestling and many other martial arts.

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UFC logo mark.

Early UFC events were eight or sixteen man tournaments whereby participants were required to beat three opponents in a single evening to be crowned Ultimate Fighting Champion. Fighters were typically skilled in one discipline only, eg. boxing, Judo, Jiu Jitsu etc. and had little experience in battling against opponents with different skills to their own. With no weight classes, fighters could find them facing opponents who were significantly larger and taller than themselves. (These kind of fights are referred to as 'Freak fights' by MMA enthusiasts, and still occur but mainly in Japanese organisations where the spectacle of the fight is considered as important as the skills being showcased.). These factors combined led to a trend of short, violent fights. This was very much in line with the way the UFC was being marketed at the time. "There are no rules!" said the famous tagline. Although not strictly true, the UFC did operate with a limited set of rules; techniques such as hair pulling and groin strikes were frowned upon, but valid.

The brutal nature of the burgeoning sport quickly drew it to the attention of the authorities and UFC events were banned in almost all American states. To survive, the UFC redesigned its rules to remove the less palatable elements of fights, whilst still retaining the core elements of striking and grappling. Five minute rounds, Referee stoppages, weight classes and limitations on permissible striking areas gradually found the UFC being rebranded as a sport rather than a violent circus attraction. As the sport evolved, so did its fans and fighters, both of which quickly realised the effectiveness of ground techniques.

The popularisation of grappling and submission strategies, particularly those of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu ("BJJ"), was almost entirely due to the success of Royce Gracie, whose brother Rorion had been instrumental in creating the UFC. Royce quickly proved in the early UFC events that BJJ was incredibly effective against strikers with no ground game and limited takedown defense.

Royce's efforts were rewarded with 3 Ultimate Fighting Championships. In 2003, along with fellow UFC veteran Ken Shamrock, Royce Gracie was inducted into the UFC's newly founded hall of fame.

Today, Ultimate Fighting Championship events have become very popular in places like Japan, Brazil, Canada, and the United States, where fights are often seen on television's Pay Per View system. In the United States, championship fights are usually held in Las Vegas or Atlantic City, much like in boxing.

In 2005 the UFC launched its own reality TV series, The Ultimate Fighter, in which MMA practitioners who had not yet appeared in the UFC would reside and train together in two teams, and fight one another in matches where the loser would be eliminated and eventually one fighter from each of two weight classes would be awarded a contract.

Contents
1 UFC Weight Classes and Current Champions
2 Notable UFC Fighters
3 UFC Hall of Fame inductees
4 UFC Viewer's Choice Awards
5 External links

UFC Weight Classes and Current Champions

The UFC currently uses six weight classes, of which four are chamionship divisions:

Division Weight maximum Champion as of June 2005
Super Heavyweight None None
Heavyweight 264.9 lbs Frank Mir (current champion, injured)/Andrei Arlovski (interim champion)
Light heavyweight 204.9 lbs Chuck Liddell
Middleweight 184.9 lbs Rich Franklin
Welterweight 169.9 lbs Matt Hughes
Lightweight 154.9 lbs None

Notable UFC Fighters

UFC Hall of Fame inductees

UFC Viewer's Choice Awards

(From UFC 45; Top 10 most popular UFC fighters of all time)

External links

See also: Ultimate Fighting Championship, Atlantic City, Bas Rutten, Boxing, Brazil, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Chuck Liddell, Dan Severn, David "Tank" Abbott, Don Frye