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.
While UFC 1 certainly was very important in the history of MMA, the audience was fairly small, with just 86,000 people paying for the fight on pay-per-view and less than 15,000 people in attendance at the event. It took some years, but in 2008, UFC 91 became the first MMA event to have a pay-per-view buy above one million. The event included a bout between Brock Lesnar and Randy "The Natural" Couture.
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.
For many years, women were not part of mixed martial arts and certain people truly didn't believe they belonged in the sport or were even interesting to watch (Dana White). While UFC refused for many years to sanction fights between women, more forward-thinking organizations such as Bellator and Strikeforce recognized the potential. One of the first notable fights for women was the 2009 Strikeforce event that pit Cristiane Justino against Gina Carano. Not only was this a good showcase of the strong MMA skills that women can possess, it was great entertainment and the interest has only grown from this point.
Fortunately even Dana White can admit to his mistakes and finally allowed women to fight at UFC. The first women's event was held in February of 2013 between Liz Carmouche and Ronda Rousey. While Rousey won easily, it was still the highlight of UFC 157 and the women were listed at the main event of the night.
While UFC 1 certainly was very important in the history of MMA, the audience was fairly small, with just 86,000 people paying for the fight on pay-per-view and less than 15,000 people in attendance at the event. It took some years, but in 2008, UFC 91 became the first MMA event to have a pay-per-view buy above one million. The event included a bout between Brock Lesnar and Randy "The Natural" Couture.
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.
For many years, women were not part of mixed martial arts and certain people truly didn't believe they belonged in the sport or were even interesting to watch (Dana White). While UFC refused for many years to sanction fights between women, more forward-thinking organizations such as Bellator and Strikeforce recognized the potential. One of the first notable fights for women was the 2009 Strikeforce event that pit Cristiane Justino against Gina Carano. Not only was this a good showcase of the strong MMA skills that women can possess, it was great entertainment and the interest has only grown from this point.
Fortunately even Dana White can admit to his mistakes and finally allowed women to fight at UFC. The first women's event was held in February of 2013 between Liz Carmouche and Ronda Rousey. While Rousey won easily, it was still the highlight of UFC 157 and the women were listed at the main event of the night.
About the Author:
Rod Bourgoine likes blogging about mixed martial arts benefits. For further info 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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