UFC or the Ultimate Fighting Championship is a promotional company of mixed martial arts in America. It is operated and owned by several groups including the Silver Lake Partners, Endeavor Group Holdings, MSD Capital and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. The promotional company is based in Las Vegas.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is considered as the largest of its kind in the world and boasts a long roster of the highest-level fighters. It takes part in the production of events that happen worldwide and is home to twelve weight divisions. These divisions include four for women and eight for men.
In addition, the UFC follows the provisions written in the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. It is presided by Dana White since 2001 and under his leadership, the company has become a multi-billion dollar empire.
History of the UFC
The beginnings of the UFC happened when Art Davie made a proposal to Rorion Gracie and John Milius to organize an eight-man tournament with a single-elimination scheme. This tournament was called, “War of the Worlds” and was inspired by video-series, “Gracies in Action”, which was produced by the Brazilian Gracie family. The said video series featured Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, which was composed of matches between students and martial artists doing a variety of disciplines like kickboxing, Kung Fu and Karate. In addition, the tournament also featured martial artists playing against each other in a no-holds-bar tournament. This was done to determine the best form of martial arts.
When Davie saw the video, he invited Milius who was a famous screenwriter and film director as well as Gracie who was a student to become the creative directors of a production company. It was Davie who drafted the business plan of the company. This move gave birth to WOW Promotions. It started with twenty-eight investors who came up with the initial capital.
By 1993, WOW Promotions was able seek a partner in television. This was also the time when the Octagon was created as a place for the matches and when the name of the company was changed into what it is today, the Ultimate Fighting Championship. By mid 2000s, it surge in popularity and growth.