UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship)
Introduction
- Sports have been an integral part of the development of the whole human race and with the development of humans, the games played in the community also changed and improved. Chariot racing, boxing, and wrestling have been developed during the times of Greek kings and their traces can also be seen in the Indus valley civilization. Wrestling, in today’s world too got developed to a very high level, not just for the entertainment of the people but also to make a lot of money from every match.
What Is UFC?
The ultimate fighting championship is an American company that is responsible to promote MMA (mixed martial arts) fighting in America or to the whole western part of the world.
The current chief executive officer of UFC is Dana Fredrick JR. according to the statistics of 2011, it has been the largest company responsible for holding promotions of mixed martial arts. The ultimate fighting championship was started in November 1993 and grew its market of mixed martial arts to the worldwide level.
Currently, UFC produces matches of MMA fighting in the whole world based on the 12 weight categories in which 8 are male and 4 are female categories. this company was created by businessman Art DAVIE and a martial artist RORION Gracie. Both started this firm with a vision of making MMA fighting popular worldwide.
What Is MMA Fighting?
MMA stands for mixed martial arts, as the name suggests it is played with a combination of various martial arts from all around the globe. MMA is also called cage fighting as it is done in a cage-like structure and it is a full-body contact fighting sport based on striking, grappling, and ground fighting. The term MMA or mixed martial art was coined by television critic Howard Rosenburg in a 1993 UFC I match.
It all got started in the early 20th century when in Japan inter style of free boxing became popular and got spread to big Asian countries which were having different types of fighting techniques in their culture. They all started a mix and match of all these together which made it a very influential sport in whole Asia. A similar type of thing emerged in Africa as well. In Brazil, there was a local fighting style called vale TUDO is very famous and taken to a higher level by the Gracie family. Gracie’s family promoted the Brazilian jiu-jitsu style which became a building block for mixed martial arts. Gracie came up with the idea of making vale TUDO popular internationally, so he took it to the USA and then started UFC. Especially taking it on television which made it popular and make it stand out from the local street fighting clubs in various countries.
It originally got started with an idea to find the most effective martial arts all around the world for unarmed combat and then developed as freestyle fighting with very less rules as compared to other fighting arenas, which made it stand out from the league of other fighting sports.
History
During ancient times, here we are talking about the ancient evolution of human communities where we can find traces of wrestling, and boxing with different names and styles where mainly punches and kicks were involved and used to showcase the human aggression which can be seen in the pictorial depiction. In the Greek civilization, we can trace the game called PANKRATION which was like the MMA fighting styles that are used right now, from which we can infer that the civilized communities at those times were developed at the same level on which we are today.
What we term today as mixed martial arts is a concept that got worldwide popular by Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee was an American and Hong Kong martial artist, actor, and director as well. He was the one who introduced the world to a hybrid form of fighting style and gave a new genre in action movies as well which was very different from the mainstream cinema of that era. he popularized MMA fighting with a system derived from himself called Jeet Kune Do.
1976, was the time when the whole world was into boxing and eyeing the legend Muhammad Ali at that time. in 1976 his fight with Japanese wrestler Antonio Inoki was a precursor to moving the audience towards something new, fresh, and more exciting than boxing or wrestling.
Monetization Of UFC
According to the recent reports of the world’s biggest money-maker sports UFC stands at number 2 after basketball. UFC makes around 200 million dollars before cumulating the number of gate receipts, concessions, and jersey sales. According to a particular report of bleacher it has seen that UFC is worth $ 4 billion.
The media rights of UFC were sold for $609 million dollars in 2015 to ESPN for the Asia and Europe network and the next price for a 5-year term was $ 1.5 billion dollars.
The viewership of UFC has increased on a next-level scale with the digitalization of everything and the prices drop for the internet.
Israel Adesanya, Francis, and Alistair Overeem are the biggest stars who emerged from UFC and have an annual income of $ 4-6 million dollars per annum which means it has been a more beneficial sport for players which has risen their income levels and created a new stage to showcase their martial arts.
Influence Of UFC On India
In the sports areas, India has been a cricket-dominated nation for a very long time due to the presence of colonial culture in Indian air, but now we have seen a new wave of the youth of the nation for various sports like hockey, football, athletics, kabaddi, wrestling, and martial arts as well.
As India has the oldest civilization in it and the oldest text about warfare (DHANURVEDA) which showcases techniques of hand-to-hand combat that are now seen in various developed martial arts as well as used by UFC fighters. Indian martial arts include KALARIYAPATTU, SILABAM, HUYEN LANGION, GATKA PEHLWANI, and many more because of the vibrant culture and diversity in various regions of our nation. The combination of these martial arts can be very furious and exciting to watch in an international context which will help in increasing viewership in India and give a chance to Indian wrestlers or fighters to shine big at the international level.
Greatest Players Of UFC
1. Georges ST- Pierre
- When we talk about the greatest players of UFC Georges St-Pierre comes at the top. He is a Canadian mixed martial artist and the greatest fighter in MMA fighting history. He was a champion in two divisions of the ultimate fighting championship (UFC) and won the titles in the welter weight and middle weight categories. He was born in a small town in Canada in 1981. His childhood was normal like any other kid in town, he played basketball in school, but he often got bullied. At the age of 7, he started learning karate to defend himself from bullies. After that, he also learned wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and boxing. He made his UFC debut in UFC 46 where he defeated Karo PARISYAN with a unanimous decision and after that in the very next match to jay HEIRON with a technical knockout of 1:42 which took him to the elite list of UFC players of all time.
2. Jon Jones
- Jon Jones is an American mixed martial art player who has been in the light heavyweight division of UFC. He was the former champion in the light heavyweight category in which he secured the title from 2015 to 2018 ad then till 2020. He learned kickboxing and wrestling, and he uses them in complementary moves with each other as a deadly combination. Jones made his professional MMA debut in April 2008. He amassed an undefeated record of 6–0 over a period of three months, finishing all his opponents. In his last bout before signing with the UFC, Jones defeated MOYSES GABIN at BCX 5 for the USKBA Light Heavyweight Championship. He won the fight via TKO in the second round.
3. Anderson Silva
Anderson da Silva is a Brazilian MMA fighter and a boxer as well. He started his carrier as a professional boxer but then also fights in the UFC ring. He started his UFC fights in 2006 and retired in 2013 but in this short span, he has an unbeatable streak of 16 consecutive wins which is still a record. Numerous MMA commentators have given him the title of the greatest fighter of all time. after his UFC he again returned to boxing in 2020.
He is a master in taekwondo, capoeira, muay Thai and boxing which make him the deadliest man in the UFC ring.
4. Demetrious Johnson
- Demetrious is an American mixed martial artist and the current winner of the ONE championship. He is best known for his quick impulsive moves like a snake in a ring. He was born in the great Muhammad Ali Kentucky, USA. He was more attracted to wrestling in his childhood. Started his MMA carrier in 2007 with a knockout match and announced himself as the new king of the UFC ring.
Controversies
- UFC and its history of tackling marijuana:-
There have been a lot of cases since the origin of UFC that the fighters regularly abuse drugs like cocaine, heroin, and marijuana to enhance their strength of holding consciously in a fight and enhancing their strength.
In the past, there have been several fighters flagged by The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and UFC for the use of marijuana before fights. Fighters like Nick Diaz, Matt Riddle, Alex cares, and Pat Healy have faced issues in the past due to the presence of carboxy-THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, in their bodies. The suspension related to the user has been talked about and criticized in the past by several fighters.
- This has been seen that UFC is trying to tackle these controversies in an appropriate response to the media and USADA also.
- Grease gate controversy -UFC94:-
- During the main UFC event of UFC in 1994 lightweight champion, B.J Penn challenged Georges St- PIERRES in the two legends. The stage was set for an epic battle between the two. In this incident fans favored Georges St- PIERRES, some were against him and said that B.J was not able to use his jiu-jitsu techniques as GSP had applied Vaseline all over his body which is an unfair practice in UFC fighting, the committee gave the decision in favor of GSP, and he won the match with technicalities.
- UFC 151 got canceled:-
- UFC 151 was about to happen in September of 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. About a few days before the start of the tournament dan Henderson who was to fight with Jon jones got injured and UFC started seeking a replacement for his place. But, apart from all this Jon jones denied fighting with the new guy which resulted in a big controversy as well as the cancellation of UFC 151.
- Bang Ludwig knockout:-
- One of the bouts set to take place that night pitted Johnathon Goulet against Duane Bang Ludwig. The first punch of the fight thrown by Ludwig was the last as it sent Goulet crashing down, face first, into the mat. As fans everywhere in the world were on their toes and taking deep breaths every strike of the clock. However, according to the official timekeeper, the fight was stopped after 11 seconds. The fight quite clearly took only about a third of this time. After much discussion on the subject, Keith KIZER of the Nevada State Athletic Company declared they were unable to overturn the time stamp on Ludwig’s victory. After this greatest match in UFC history, we have seen fans giving the title of fastest knockout in history, but UFC has not recognized it yet.
Reality Of The Great UFC Life
- The life of UFC is very different from ours, it is studded with starfighters, people who make them stars, and a big and lavish lifestyle for players. It has also been seen that the life span of a professional player in the UFC games is very short. It can be because of the type of the sport as it is more packed with power, strength, and speed of the body so companies also prefer to gamble their money as the sponsor on young players. It has also seen regular cases of drug abuse, and sexual assaults from players which gives a bad impression of this young sport on people and attracts new and growing people towards these negative aspects of life by their own idols. But every coin has two different faces, and we cannot forget that the UFC of mixed martial arts has given a very big boost in saving cultures and has taken fighting techniques to an international level where the whole world can witness it.
Top 13 Interesting Facts About UFC
The first fighter who wore gloves- UFC 14 in 1994 was the first international event in which a fighter wore gloves.
Steve JENNUM is a player who has only won two fights in the history of UFC and has also won a UFC title.
Dana White never had a pro-UFC match. as he was mostly working with the professional boxers and, he never claimed to be the one.
At WEC 35, Brian Bowles defeated Page by guillotine choke at 3:30 of the first round.
Dana White first doled out bonus money for the fight, knockout, and submission of the night at UFC 70 in 2007.
On 12th November 1993, the first fight of UFC was aired on cable TV on fox sports net.
Groin strikes, hair pulling, and eye-poking are considered illegal moves in UFC fights, and a player can be debarred from the next few matches by the committee.
Evan Tanner has won 9 matches by using the triangle technique which is the most by any player.
Mirko FILIPOVIC is a former Croatian police officer and a member of parliament who started his carrier in UFC by the name of TIGER.
Joe Rogan is not just an exceptional MMA fighter but also an outspoken marijuana advocate.
The belt Ken Shamrock won in 1995, and the UFC Super fight Championship was subsequently renamed the heavyweight championship. The line remains unbroken right up to today.
KAMARU USMAN is the first black American to win the UFC title.
BHARAT Kandhare was the first India-based American UFC fighter.
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