Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is a leading professional mixed martial arts (MMA) organization. Mixed martial arts is a sport that combines elements of boxing, wrestling, and many other styles of unarmed fighting. The UFC organizes and promotes MMA competitions.
MMA is a full-contact combat sport. Competitors combine elements from many fighting styles, including boxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, judo, karate, Muay Thai (a form of kickboxing), taekwondo, and wrestling. Striking and grappling are the main techniques, used standing or on the ground. Illegal attacks include biting, eye gouging, and fish hooking (pulling or tearing at the mouth or nose).
MMA fighters are divided by gender and separated into weight divisions. The lightest division is strawweight, up to and including 115 pounds (52 kilograms). The heaviest is super heavyweight, over 265 pounds (120 kilograms). Fighters compete and are ranked in the organization. High-ranking fighters can challenge the current champion for the title.
Fights take place in the UFC Octagon, an eight-sided cage with padded walls, a surrounding fence, and a padded floor. There are three five-minute rounds in a fight between two people of the same weight class and skill. Title fights are five rounds. MMA fights can be won by knockout, submission (surrender), or decision by a panel of three judges. To end in submission, the fighter taps the mat or opponent at least three times or declares submission verbally. A referee can also stop a fight, declaring a technical knockout.
The UFC traces its roots to Brazilian martial arts. Rorion Gracie was a famed fighter of the Gracie family, pioneers of the martial art Brazilian jiu-jitsu. The family became known for the “Gracie challenge,” in which they would fight opponents practicing any type of martial art. In 1993, Rorion Gracie and advertising executive Art Davie held the first UFC event. Martial artists of all different weights and fighting styles competed inside a cage on a live television broadcast. Fights were often bloody and vicious, with few rules of conduct. In 2000, the UFC added more rules, introduced weight classes, and began requiring fighters to wear gloves.
In 2001, the brothers Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, American businessmen, bought the UFC and turned it into an organized, sanctioned combat sport. The brothers brought the UFC to Las Vegas, Nevada, where boxing matches are also popular. The UFC became a global brand and media company and a major provider of pay-per-view event broadcasts. The company produces dozens of live events every year and broadcasts around the world. “The Ultimate Fighter,” a reality television series that began in 2005, popularized fighters’ quests to earn a high-paying contract with the UFC. The UFC also maintains its own line of gyms and markets sporting gear. In 2023, the UFC and World Wrestling Entertainment merged to form TKO Group Holdings.
