WHAT is the UFC?

The UFC is the world’s leading mixed martial arts sports association, formed in January, 2001 by Zuffa, LLC. The UFC features a strong ownership and a depth of management experience across a spectrum of live event sports, television production and ancillary business development. The UFC is positioned well for the future as the standard bearer for the evolving and exciting sport of mixed martial arts.

WHAT is MIXED MARTIAL ARTS?

Mixed martial arts (MMA) is an intense and evolving combat sport in which competitors use interdisciplinary forms of fighting that include jiu-jitsu, judo, karate, boxing, kickboxing, wrestling and others to their strategic and tactical advantage in a supervised match. Scoring for mixed martial arts events is based on athletic-commission approved definitions and rules for striking (blows with the hands, feet, knees or elbows) and grappling (submission, choke holds, throws or takedowns). No single discipline reigns.

WHAT is ULTIMATE FIGHTING in the UFC?

Ultimate Fighting is a proprietary term of the UFC. It is defined as mixed martial arts competition between high level professional fighters who utilize the disciplines of jiu-jitsu, karate, boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, and other forms in UFC live events. UFC competitors or “Ultimate Fighters” are among the best-trained and conditioned athletes in the world. While this is a highly intense sport, fighter safety is of paramount concern to UFC ownership and management: it is noteworthy that no competitor has ever been seriously injured in a UFC event.

WHAT DISTINGUISHES UFC FROM ITS COMPETITORS?

The elite level of the competitor also known as an “Ultimate Fighter.”

The UFC brings together the most talented martial arts experts in the world. UFC fighters come from the US, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Russia, Holland, England, etc. All UFC fighters have previous combat sports experience and many are world or Olympic champions. UFC athletes train up to six hours a day or more in preparation for an event. Almost all have studied martial arts as a lifelong vocation and many are college educated. In addition to their UFC careers, many of these men are business owners. They are also students, professionals or managers working for diverse types of companies. But it is the success, discipline and focus of the Ultimate Fighter that makes him different from just about any other competitor in or out of mixed martial arts.

Absolute consistency of rules: presence of officials, judges, weight divisions, rounds, time limits.

Leadership in obtaining commission approval for a new sport.