Mixed Martial Arts is a 2,000 year old sport with origins in Ancient Greece that has quickly risen in the world of full contact sports and is poised to remain in the throne for a long time to come. Although MMA is easily one of the most popular and lucrative contact sports in existence, it hasnt always been this way as only within the last decade has Mixed Martial Arts really gained ground. Up until roughly the beginning of the 21'st century, Mixed Martial Arts was looked at as a pseudo sport, backyard brawling, and crude and elementary in most athletes eyes. That would all change in 2001 when Zuffa LLC purchased the previously bankrupted Ultimate Fighting Championship or UFC company.
Bruce Lee
In the 1960's and 1970's, Mixed Martial Arts as we know it today was conceived by arguably the greatest martial artist of all time- Bruce Lee. Lee felt that in order for a fighter to truly be
the best, he cannot rely on only one style of martial arts. Lee decided that in order for a fighter to be great, he needed to absorb knowledge and wisdom from many different styles of fighting and combine them together to create an "ultimate style" that utilized the best strategies and moves from the most effective combat fighting styles. He attempted to bring this to fruition with his Jeet Kune Do martial arts style but sadly died prior to making it popular.
Gracie Family Helps UFC
MMA existed in relative obscurity until the early 1990's when the Gracie family brought it back into popularity briefly with the advent of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. This early UFC, although popular, was plagued with bad press, a poorly constructed hierarchy and a lack of rules, causing it to remain a relatively obscure sport until in 2001 it was purchased by Zuffa LLC and turned into one of the most popular full contact sports in existence by UFC president and spokesperson Dana White.
UFC and Big Name Backers
Upon purchasing UFC, Zuffa LLC went about restoring it to its previous glory and cleaning the dirt from its name. They used influence to secure sanctioning in Nevada and began holding main events in Las Vegas. Soon their pay per view buy rate sky rocketed from an average of 45,000 buys per event to over 1 million buys for UFC 66. In 2005, the UFC unveiled a reality show The Ultimate Fighter on cable television and it quickly soared to the top of the ratings. As the UFC became more and more popular, they purchased both the WEC ( World Extreme Cagefighting) and the PRIDE fighting championship company based in Japan, securing dominance in the Mixed Martial Arts industry.
UFC Future Looks Bright
With 2011 right around the corner, there is no doubt that the UFC will remain dominant within the world of Mixed Martial Arts having secured big name sponsors such as Harley Davidson and Anheuser- Busch, created a popular MMA Gear and UFC brand video game series, as well as the creation of UFC fighter action figures. Furthermore, every UFC event is released on DVD, furthering the reach that the UFC has within the Mixed Martial Arts industry. Given all of the above mentioned, this next decade looks poised to be owned by the UFC, especially since the term MMA and UFC have almost become synonymous.
Tony Mills is the Chief Editor of online Content for The MMA Zone. Tony is an expert in the field of martial arts training and conditioning.
To see more article and information on MMA Gear and Martial Arts Supplies please go to The MMA Zone.
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