The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is the most popular organisation promoting Mixed Martial Arts matches in the United States. It has promoted pay-per-view events since 1993.
Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is a sport that combines different forms of combat, such as boxing, wrestling and jiu jitsu. Originally UFC events involved one-night elimination tournaments with 8 or 16 fighters from different backgrounds competing to find out which form of martial art was most effective.
Eventually UFC competitors began training specifically for MMA matches, rather than concentrating on one fighting style. UFC events no longer have tournaments; instead they have a full fight-card as in boxing, and titles are held and defended by the reigning champion.
UFC matches are scheduled for three five-minute rounds, or five five-minute rounds in title matches. The main ways to win are by knockout, submission (signalled by a fighter tapping out), or a stoppage by the referee or doctor. If the match goes to the time limit, three judges score the fight on points. Most fighting styles are allowed, but there are many holds and moves which are illegal. These include headbutting, eye gouging, biting, downward elbow strikes, and kicking or kneeing the head of an opponent who is on the floor.
UFC is owned by Zuffa LLC, headed by Las Vegas tycoons Lorenzo Ferttita and Frank Fertitta. (Zuffa means ‘fight’ in Italian.) Other staff members include UFC president Dana White, matchmaker Joe Silva and announcers Mike Goldberg and Joe Silva. UFC matches are sanctioned by several state athletic commissions, and former Las Vegas commission head Marc Ratner is now vice-president of UFC.
UFC matches are made in five weight divisions:
* Heavyweight (206-265lbs). The current champion is Tim Sylvia. Top contenders include Andrei Arlovsky, Brandon Vera and Frank Mir.
* Light-heavyweight (186-205lbs). The current champion is Chuck Liddell. Top contenders include Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin.
* Middleweight (171-185lbs). The current champion is Rich Franklin. Top contenders include Anderson Silva, David Loiseau and Mike Swick.
* Welterweight (156-170lb). The current champion is Matt Hughes. Top contenders include BJ Penn, George St Pierre and Diego Sanchez.
* Lightweight (146-155lb). The title is currently vacant. The top contenders are Kenny Florian and Sean Sherk.
The UFC has a hall of fame with four inductees: Royce Gracie (who won three of the first four tournaments), Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn and Randy Couture (the only man two win a title in two different weight divisions).
Much of the UFC’s recent success was spurned by The Ultimate Fighter, a reality show on Spike TV. The show involves 16 relatively-unknown fighters (eight from each of two weight divisions) living in a house and being trained by existing UFC stars, with eliminations decided by weekly fights rather than public voting. The last two fighters in each division compete on a live television special with the winner getting a UFC contract. The first season was notable for a bitter rivalry between Josh Koscheck and Chris Leben, and a brutal final between Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar. The latest season has two differences: for the first time, the competition is open to former UFC competitors, and the prize is a guaranteed title shot against the relevant champion.
Since the success of The Ultimate Fighter, Spike has shown several other UFC programmes, including Ultimate Fight Night (a full fight-card), UFC: All Access (an in-depth profile of a fighter looking at his training methods) and UFC: Countdown (a preview of an upcoming pay-per-view). This has led to very strong business for UFC, including achieving a record 775,000 buys for a pay-per-view clash between Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz, the coaches from the third season of The Ultimate Fighter.
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