Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is a premier professional mixed martial arts (MMA) organization based in Las Vegas, Nevada, known for hosting some of the most popular and highly regarded fighting events globally. Established in 1993, the UFC features competitions in an eight-sided arena called "The Octagon," where fighters from various disciplines—such as jiu-jitsu, boxing, wrestling, and kickboxing—compete across different weight classes. The organization has significantly contributed to the mainstream popularity of MMA, particularly in the United States, and is owned by Zuffa, LLC.
UFC events are broadcast worldwide and draw substantial audiences, including pay-per-view viewers. The organization also produces the reality TV series "The Ultimate Fighter," where aspiring fighters compete for recognition and a chance to enter the UFC. Renowned fighters such as Conor McGregor, Ronda Rousey, and Jon Jones have emerged from the UFC, elevating the sport's profile and inspiring a dedicated fan base. Each fight is governed by specific rules, including rounds, scoring systems, and various methods to determine winners, ensuring a fair and competitive environment for athletes.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is a professional mixed martial arts (MMA) organization based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Owned by Zuffa, LLC, the company is considered the premier organization for the sport of MMA in the world, as many of the highest-ranked MMA fighters in the sport have competed in the UFC. The UFC hosts fighting events that have consistently been some of the most popular sporting events in the world, with many of these events being broadcast worldwide in many languages. The organization, which has produced some of the most well-known athletes in all of modern sports, also hosts the popular reality television show The Ultimate Fighter.
Brief History
The UFC was founded in 1993 by Art Davie and Rorion Gracie. The organization began as a competition to find the “Ultimate Fighting Champion.” MMA fighters competed in a one-night tournament to find a winner, who would be dubbed the champion.
A UFC fight consists of two competitors battling each other in an eight-sided, fenced-in area called the Octagon. The fighters may employ various fighting techniques, including jiu-jitsu, boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, grappling, and submission attempts.
In 2001, the UFC began to be sanctioned by the Nevada Athletic Commission under the ownership of Zuffa, LLC, which was led by owners Dana White, Frank Fertitta III, and Lorenzo Fertitta. The UFC quickly helped the sport of MMA gain popularity in the United States and eventually throughout the world. In the 2020s, the UFC hosts about forty live events every year. These events often are held before sold-out audiences at famous sports arenas. They also are broadcast, often as pay-per-view events, in 165 countries and territories in more than forty languages for millions of fans to watch from home.
The UFC also began the reality television show The Ultimate Fighter, in which up-and-coming fighters compete against one another to find a season winner. The fighters are split into two teams, with each team being coached by a UFC legend. The series was particularly popular during the early 2000s. The Ultimate Fighter has run for more than thirty seasons.
Over the years, the UFC has given rise to some of the most accomplished male and female athletes in the world of sports. Some of the most dominant and famous fighters to come out of the UFC include Anderson Silva, Jon Jones, Conor McGregor, Chuck Liddell, Ronda Rousey, and Amanda Nunes. All of these fighters have won at least one UFC title during their career. Only a few MMA fighters—notably Fedor Emelianenko, widely considered the greatest heavyweight fighter in history—have gained ongoing international recognition without ever competing in the UFC.
Overview
At a UFC event, numerous fights take place in different weight classes with both male and female competitors. The weight classes range from strawweight (up to 115 pounds) to heavyweight (over 205 to 265 pounds). The other weight classes include flyweight (over 115 to 125 pounds); bantamweight (over 125 to 135 pounds); women’s bantamweight (over 125 to 135 pounds); featherweight (over 135 to 145 pounds); lightweight (over 145 to 155 pounds); welterweight (over 155 to 170 pounds); middleweight (over 170 to 185 pounds); and light heavyweight (over 185 to 205 pounds). Typically, a UFC event culminates in a main event bout at the end of the night that often is a championship bout.
UFC fighters must follow certain rules as governed by the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. All fighters must wear gloves and a mouthguard. Male fighters must wear a groin protector, while female fighters must wear a chest protector. Each fight consists of three five-minute rounds, except for championship bouts which consist of five five-minute rounds. All fights have a one-minute rest period for the fighters between rounds. A referee oversees the contest and ensures that all rules are followed. The referee also ensures that the fighters do not commit any fouls during the bout. Fouls include headbutting, gouging of the eyes, kicking an opponent in the head while they are down, striking the groin, biting, spitting, and hair pulling.
Three judges at Octagon-side evaluate the bout and judge the fighters’ performance during each round of the bout. The judges evaluate the fighters’ performance based on various MMA techniques, including effective striking, effective grappling, effective aggressiveness, control of the Octagon, and defense. The judges score each round based on a ten-point system to determine which fighter has won each round, or to determine if a round is a draw.
A UFC fight can end in several different ways, including by knockout, submission, or by going to the judges’ scorecards. A knockout occurs when one of the fighters is knocked unconscious by the other fighter due to legal strikes, and the bout must end. A knockout also can happen when the referee stops the fight to protect one of the fighters because they have endured a serious injury or cannot defend themselves. A submission occurs when one fighter “taps out,” or succumbs to a submission hold; tapping out means the fighter has signaled to the referee either physically or verbally that they no longer wish to continue the bout.
If none of these scenarios occurs within the allotted rounds of the fight, then the judges’ scorecards determine the outcome of the bout. A unanimous decision is rendered when all three judges determine that the same fighter has won. A split decision means that two of the three judges chose the same fighter as the winner. A majority decision happens when two judges pick the same fighter as the winner and the third judge scores the bout a draw. In these scenarios, there is a clear winner of the contest. Otherwise, the judges can determine that the contest is a draw, and there is no winner. There are several other outcomes of a bout, including disqualification, no decision, technical decision, and forfeit technical draw.
The goal of a UFC fighter is to accumulate as many wins as possible in the UFC, while limiting their losses. The fighter then can climb the ranks in their weight class or move to new weight classes. If the fighter performs well enough, they eventually can get a shot at UFC titles.
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