It is safe to say that within the last decade, there has been a revolution brewing within the field of contact sports and the name of that revolution is MMA or Mixed Martial Arts. Although for centuries, Boxing and Wrestling were considered the kings of full contact sports, within the last few years, the sport of MMA has gone from a relatively unknown and controversial sport to an accepted sport that is the undisputed king of contact sports in terms of popularity. But what exactly is Mixed Martial Arts? Where did it come from? Lastly, how long will its reign on the top last?
In The Beginning...
According to online encyclopedia Wikipedia, Mixed Martial Arts is a "full contact combat sport that allows a wide variety of fighting techniques and skills, from a mixture of martial arts traditions and non traditions, to be used in competitions." Mixed Martial Arts finds its roots in ancient Greece when in 648 B.C. it was first practiced as a sport during the Olympic Games. During these matches, there were no holds barred and anything was acceptable in terms of fighting. Along with the dominance of Ancient Greece as well as the Olympic games, Mixed Martial Arts disappeared from the map and didn't become popular again until the 1800's when 'no holds barred" matches began to spring up in America and Britain. Athletes ranging from boxers to wrestlers would get together and compete, with the wrestlers usually winning out.
They Call Him Bruce
In the 1960's and 70's, world renowned martial artist Bruce Lee would ultimately create the concept of what MMA has become today in the form if the UFC as well as others. Lee felt that no one type of martial arts was vastly superior and in fact, in order for a practitioner of martial arts to become extremely good, he would need to mix different styles together in order to form a superior, all encompassing style. In 2004,
the president of the UFC or Ultimate Fighting Championship, Dana White, publicly stated that Bruce Lee was the founding father of modern Mixed Martial Arts.
MMA In The Early 90's
In the 1990's MMA began gaining steam with the initial creation of the UFC. These early UFC bouts were untimed, offered no weight classes, and were often crudely set up and with little rules. Although extremely popular, the lack of a sanctioning body, the relatively young age of the sport, and the unfamiliarity with the safety of the sport caused protests worldwide and the sport acquired a bad name and MMA companies went bankrupt. In 2001, when the UFC was purchased by Zuffa LLC, it reemerged as a threat to be reckoned with. Within just a few years, the sport of MMA quickly became one of the most popular full contact sports in existence, creating a multi billion dollar industry. Due to the varying styles of fighting employed in MMA, its fighters literally become word class athletes, employing science, nearly every combat effective fighting style in existence as well as genuine hard work and dedication in pursuit of victory. These fighters are among the most well conditioned athletes in the world and have turned the sport of Mixed Martial Arts into an art form. With MMA along with MMA Gear becoming more and more popular daily, there is no questioning whether or not it will remain popular for a long time to come as the sport rapidly evolves with technological advances and will be here to stay for quite awhile.
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