PRELIM RESULTS | UFC 302: MAKHACHEV VS POIRIER
UFC 302: Makhachev vs Poirier Prelim Results
- nullRandy Brown (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) defeats Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos by Unanimous Decision
- Roman Kopylov (29-28, 30-27) defeats Cesar Almeida (29-28) by Split Decision
- Jailton Almeida defeats Alexandr Romanov by Submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:27 of Round 1
- Grant Dawson (29-28, 30-27, 30-27) defeats Joe Solecki by Unanimous Decision
- Jake Matthews (29-28, 29-28, 30-27) defeats Philip Rowe by Unanimous Decision
- Bassil Hafez (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) defeats Mickey Gall by Unanimous Decision
- Ailin Perez (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) defeats Joselyne Edwards by Unanimous Decision
- Andre Lima (30-27, 30-27) defeats Mitch Raposo (29-28) by Split Decision
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings.[5][6][7][8] It is the largest MMA promotion in the world as of 2023.[9] It produces events worldwide that showcase 11 weight divisions (eight men's and three women's) and abides by the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts.[10] As of 2022, it had held over 600 events. Dana White has been its president since 2001 and CEO since 2023. Under White's stewardship, it has grown into a global multi-billion-dollar enterprise.[11]
The UFC was founded by businessman Art Davie and Brazilian martial artist Rorion Gracie,[12] and the first event was held in 1993 at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado.[13] The purpose of the UFC's early competitions was to identify the most effective martial art in a contest with minimal rules and no weight classes between competitors of different fighting disciplines. In subsequent events, more rigorous rules were created and fighters began adopting effective techniques from more than one discipline, which indirectly helped create a separate style of fighting known as present-day mixed martial arts.
The UFC was initially owned by the Semaphore Entertainment Group (SEG) until it had financial issues and it was sold to the brothers Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta in 2001, who formed the company Zuffa to operate the UFC, and placed Dana White as the president of the company.[11][14] In 2016, UFC's parent company, Zuffa, was sold to a group led by Endeavor, then known as William Morris Endeavor (WME–IMG), including Silver Lake Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and MSD Capital[15] for US$4.025 billion.[16] In 2021, Endeavor bought out Zuffa's other owners at a valuation of $1.7 billion.[8] The organization had 578 fighters contracted as of January 2023.[17]
With a TV deal and expansion in Australia, Asia, Europe,[18][19][20] and new markets within the United States, the UFC has achieved greater mainstream media coverage. It earned US$609 million in 2015,[21] and its next domestic media rights agreement with ESPN was valued at $1.5 billion over a five-year term.[22]
In April 2023, Endeavor Group Holdings announced that UFC would merge with the wrestling promotion WWE to form TKO Group Holdings, a new public company majority-owned by Endeavor, with Vince McMahon serving as an executive chairman of the new entity and White remaining as UFC president. The merger was completed on September 12, 2023.[23]
The former logo of the UFC, used from 1993 to 1999
Early 1990s competition
Royce Gracie used Brazilian jiu-jitsu in the early years of UFC to defeat opponents of greater size and strength.
Art Davie proposed to John Milius and Rorion Gracie an eight-man single-elimination tournament called "War of the Worlds".[24] It was inspired by the "Gracies in Action" video-series produced by the Gracie family of Brazil which featured Gracie jiu-jitsu students defeating martial artists of various disciplines such as karate, kung fu, and kickboxing on Vale Tudo matches. The tournament would also feature martial artists from different disciplines facing each other in no-holds-barred combat to determine the best martial art, and would aim to replicate the excitement of the matches Davie saw on the videos.[25] Gracie accepted, as he was interested in showcasing and promoting his family's own jiu-jitsu for a wide audience.[26] Milius, a film director/screenwriter and Gracie student, agreed to be the event's creative director. Davie drafted the business plan, and 28 investors contributed the initial capital to start WOW Promotions to develop the tournament into a television franchise.[27]
In 1993, WOW Promotions sought a television partner and approached pay-per-view producers TVKO (HBO) and SET (Showtime), and Campbell McLaren and David Isaacs at Semaphore Entertainment Group (SEG). Both TVKO and SET declined, but SEG—a pioneer in pay-per-view television that had produced such offbeat events as a tennis match between Jimmy Connors and Martina Navratilova—became WOW's partner in May 1993.[28] UFC promoters initially pitched the event as a real-life fighting video game tournament similar to Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat.[29] SEG contacted video and film art director Jason Cusson to design a fighting arena for the event. Rorion and Davie didn't want a traditional roped ring, citing fears—by showing old Vale Tudo footage—that the fighters could escape through the ropes during grappling and use it as an advantage, or fall off and hurt themselves. SEG's executives agreed, and also wanted a way to visually differentiate their event from professional boxing and professional wrestling. Some ideas included a traditional roped-ring surrounded by netting, a moat with alligators, a raised platform surrounded by razor-wire fence, electrified fencing, men in togas and netting that could be lowered from the ceiling by a pulley. Eventually Cusson designed an arena with eight sides surrounded by chain-link fence, the trademarked Octagon, which became the event's signature setting.[30] Cusson remained the group's production designer through UFC 27.[25] SEG devised the show's name as "The Ultimate Fighting Championship".[31]
WOW Promotions and SEG produced the first event, later retroactively called UFC 1, at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado on November 12, 1993. Art Davie was its booker and matchmaker.[32] It proposed to find answers for sports fans' questions such as, "Can a wrestler beat a boxer?"[33] As with most martial arts at the time, fighters typically had skills in just one discipline and little experience against opponents with differing skills.[34] The television broadcast featured kickboxer Kevin Rosier, taekwondo practitioner Patrick Smith, savate fighter Gerard Gordeau, karate expert Zane Frazier, shootfighter Ken Shamrock, sumo wrestler Teila Tuli, boxer Art Jimmerson, and 175 lb (79 kg) Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Royce Gracie—younger brother of UFC co-founder Rorion, whom Rorion selected to represent his family. Royce's submission skills proved the most effective in the inaugural tournament, earning him the first ever UFC tournament championship after submitting Jimmerson, Shamrock, and Gordeau in succession.[35] The show was extremely successful, with 86,592 pay-per-view television subscribers.[24]
It's disputed whether the promoters intended the event to be a precursor to future events. "That show was only supposed to be a one-off", eventual UFC president Dana White said. "It did so well on pay-per-view they decided to do another, and another. Never in a million years did these guys think they were creating a sport."[36] Davie, in his 2014 book Is This Legal?, an account of the creation of the first UFC event, disputes the perception that the UFC was seen by WOW Promotions and SEG as a one-off, since SEG offered a five-year joint development deal to WOW. He says, "Clearly, both Campbell and Meyrowitz shared my unwavering belief that War of the Worlds[b] would be a continuing series of fighting tournaments—a franchise, rather than a one-night stand."[37]
With no weight classes, fighters often faced significantly larger or taller opponents. Keith "The Giant Killer" Hackney faced Emmanuel Yarbrough at UFC 3 with a 9-inch height and 400 pounds (180 kg) weight disadvantage.[38]
During this early phase of the organization, the UFC showcased a bevy of styles and fighters. Aside from the aforementioned Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, and Patrick Smith, they also featured competitors such as Hall of Famer Dan Severn, Marco Ruas, Gary Goodridge, Don Frye, Kimo Leopoldo, Oleg Taktarov, and Tank Abbott.
In April 1995, following UFC 5 in Charlotte, North Carolina, Davie and Gracie sold their interest in the franchise to SEG and disbanded WOW Promotions.[39]
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