While it might seem like mixed martial arts has long been popular, the truth of the matter is that MMA has only been around since the early 1990s and for many years struggled to gain popularity. There are many pivotal moments in the history of the sport, such as UFC 1, which was held in 1993. Since that time, there have been many landmark moments and the following are just the tip of the iceberg.
UFC 1 was notable obviously as the first UFC event and was broadcast only on pay-per-view. About 86,000 people paid to watch this pivotal fight at home back in 1993. The first UFC event to garner more than one million buys was UFC 91 in 2008 which featured a main card that included main card fights between Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar, as well as Kenny Florian and Joe Stevenson.
John McCain once referred to MMA as "human cockfighting," but MMA is not simply an expansion of a grisly Tyler Durden dream. There are real rules to the sport and all legitimate MMA organizations have always implemented at least a few rules. The United Rules of Mixed Martials Arts govern the sport and not only set up a structure for bouts, but also help to protect fighters from injuries. While it's true that these rules were not official throughout the country until 2009, state athletic commissions and MMA organizations did have rules, and while some might prefer a huge free-for-all in the cage, rules attach legitimacy to a sport and adopting these rules has only helped the sport progress.
While it took quite a bit of time to build an audience for MMA, a few TV shows helped make the sport more successful and mainstream. Spike TV began airing episodes of The Ultimate Fighter in 2005 and viewers soon became hooked, and not just the ones that already were following MMA. It helped that the first two coaches were highly popular veterans of the sport - Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture.
The introduction of women into the sport has been a slow process, and while women have competed for organizations such as Strikeforce and Bellator for several years, it took UFC much longer to get with the program and allow sanctioned MMA events for women. The 2009 Strikeforce bout between Gina Carano and Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos (now Justino) not only proved that people were interested in watching women fight, but that the ladies were great fighters.
It took Dana White and the UFC 30 years to include women on the fight card, but when they finally did, it was in a big way. During UFC 157 in February, 2013, Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche went head to head during the main fight of the night, which had a total gate of more than $1.3 million.
UFC 1 was notable obviously as the first UFC event and was broadcast only on pay-per-view. About 86,000 people paid to watch this pivotal fight at home back in 1993. The first UFC event to garner more than one million buys was UFC 91 in 2008 which featured a main card that included main card fights between Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar, as well as Kenny Florian and Joe Stevenson.
John McCain once referred to MMA as "human cockfighting," but MMA is not simply an expansion of a grisly Tyler Durden dream. There are real rules to the sport and all legitimate MMA organizations have always implemented at least a few rules. The United Rules of Mixed Martials Arts govern the sport and not only set up a structure for bouts, but also help to protect fighters from injuries. While it's true that these rules were not official throughout the country until 2009, state athletic commissions and MMA organizations did have rules, and while some might prefer a huge free-for-all in the cage, rules attach legitimacy to a sport and adopting these rules has only helped the sport progress.
While it took quite a bit of time to build an audience for MMA, a few TV shows helped make the sport more successful and mainstream. Spike TV began airing episodes of The Ultimate Fighter in 2005 and viewers soon became hooked, and not just the ones that already were following MMA. It helped that the first two coaches were highly popular veterans of the sport - Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture.
The introduction of women into the sport has been a slow process, and while women have competed for organizations such as Strikeforce and Bellator for several years, it took UFC much longer to get with the program and allow sanctioned MMA events for women. The 2009 Strikeforce bout between Gina Carano and Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos (now Justino) not only proved that people were interested in watching women fight, but that the ladies were great fighters.
It took Dana White and the UFC 30 years to include women on the fight card, but when they finally did, it was in a big way. During UFC 157 in February, 2013, Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche went head to head during the main fight of the night, which had a total gate of more than $1.3 million.
About the Author:
Rod Bourgoine likes writing about mixed martial arts benefits. For further information about San Diego mma classes or to find a jiu jitsu gym in San Diego, go to The Arena MMA site now.
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