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UFC Overview
In 1993, the Ultimate Fighting Championship relied on one tagline and one tagline only to give the general public an idea of how it was going to operate:
“There are no rules!”
That tagline was almost the very thing that cost the UFC a chance to be what it has become today as far as popularity.
The idea was simple: have a series of three matches to see what fighting style, and therefore what fighter, was the best in the world. Anything goes, no holds barred fighting to determine the best fighting style.
At first, Pay Per View fell in love with the idea and the UFC quickly gained popularity. Brazilian fighter Royce Gracie won the first three out of four No Limit weight classes in ’93 and ’94. The UFC had a poster child and the public was starting to become more aware of the sport.
Eventually, however, political pressures seized what was starting to be known as “human cockfighting” and Pay Per View backed down and dropped the UFC.
In order to regain and grow on the small success that they had already achieved, the UFC had to realign its goal and therefore it added weight classes and official rules for the first time in 1997.
Mark Coleman and Frank Shamrock from the United States won the first Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight titles, respectively, in ’97. Following their lead, Randy Couture, also from the US, claimed three titles from 2003 to 2005.
Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell eventually knocked out Couture in April of 2005, but “The Natural” still holds the record for number of Light Heavyweight Championships with three. He also has won two titles in the Heavyweight class as well as one tournament (UFC 13).
According to UFC 45, David “Tank” Abbott, Coleman, Couture, Don Frye, Gracie, Pat Miletich, Marco Ruas, Dan Severn, Ken Shamrock and Oleg Taktarov are the Top 10 most popular UFC fighters of all time.
New fighters such as Liddell, Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski and Tim Sylvia are gaining more and more of a fan base as the UFC grows.
Today, the UFC is as popular as ever, gaining new fans from all different walks of life every year. Fans from Japan, Brazil, Canada and the Untied States can watch the fights on Pay Per View or a more recent option, Spike TV.
UFC Profiles
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Information
UFC.com
The official website of the UFC gives fans a chance to check out scheduled Pay Per View fights, inside information on the fighters as well as a multimedia section and UFC store.
Fightnews.com
Fightnews.com offers a look at all the past UFC battles as well as news stories and links to media outlets that telecast UFC fights. The site is also great for information on all of the fighters in the UFC.
UFC Ultimate Fighting
This page explains how the UFC got started and a look into the history of the UFC.
UFC Home Page by Weberton
This site looks homemade, but it is great for pictures, videos and information about the fighters.
IGN: Ultimate Fighting Championship: Throwdown
Fans of both the UFC and video games would appreciate this web page dedicated to the UFC’s official video game: Ultimate Fighting Championship: Throwdown.
Yardbarker.com
Check out sports rumors, blogs, videos, news, discussions, scores and more at Yardbarker.com – a place for fans to share stories and make comments about what’s happening in the sports world.
UFC Event Stories
Source: UFC buys Pride for less than $70M
In a move to eliminate competition and bring a wider audience, UFC buys the rights to Pride Fighting Championships for less than $70 million. Money quote:
Tim Sylvia - The Return of the King
After two years of knocking on the door, Tim Sylvia finally was crowned the UFC Heavyweight Champion with a win over former champ Andrei Arlovski.
One-on-one with the Iceman
Learn about Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell’s road to becoming UFC’s Light Heavyweight Champion.
Arlovski the ‘Could-be’ King
Before Andrei Arlovski was officially named the back-to-back Heavyweight Champion, he once had to wait in the shadows of an injured Frank Mir.
Brutally Honest
Even back in 2001, Ken Shamrock told it like it was.
The Natural knows MMA
Even though Chuck Liddell was the first to ever knock out Randy Couture, that hasn’t stopped Couture from bringing his experience and battle tested style to ever fight.
Who wants to lose to Rush
As two-time UFC Welterweight champ Matt Hughes prepares to fight Quebec native Georges St. Pierre, he has one sarcastic question to ask the general public: “Who wants to lose to a Canadian?”
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Lightweight (formerly Bantamweight)
145 to 155 lbs (66 to 70 kg)
| .# | .Name | .Nationality | .Reigned period | .Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jens Pulver (title vacated) | USA | February 23, 2001 - unknown | 2 |
| 2 | Sean Sherk | USA | October 14, 2006 (UFC 64) | 0 |
Welterweight (formerly Lightweight)
156 to 170 lb (70 to 77 kg)
| .# | .Name | .Nationality | .Reigned period | .Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pat Miletich | USA | October 16, 1998 - May 4, 2001 | 4 |
| 2 | Carlos Newton | British Virgin Islands | May 4, 2001 - November 2, 2001 | 1 |
| 3 | Matt Hughes | USA | October 22, 2004 – November 18, 2006 | 5 |
| 4 | BJ Penn | USA | January 31, 2004 - unknown (stripped) | 0 |
| 5 | Matt Hughes | USA | October 22, 2004 - present | 2 |
| 6 | Georges St. Pierre | Canada | November 18, 2006 (UFC 65) | 0 |
| 7 | Matt Sera | USA | April 7, 2007 – Present | 0 |
Middleweight
171 to 185 lb (77 to 84 kg)
| .# | .Name | .Nationality | .Reigned period | .Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dave Menne | USA | September 28, 2001 - January 11, 2002 | 0 |
| 2 | Murilo Bustamante (title vacated) | Brazil | January 11, 2002 - unknown | 1 |
| 3 | Evan Tanner | USA | February 5, 2005 - June 4, 2005 | 0 |
| 4 | Rich Franklin | USA | June 4, 2005 – October 14, 2006 | 2 |
| 5 | Anderson Silva | Brazil | October 14, 2006 – Present | 0 |
Light Heavyweight (formerly Middleweight)
186 to 205 lb (84 to 93 kg)
| .# | .Name | .Nationality | .Reigned period | .Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frank Shamrock (title vacated) | USA | December 21, 1997 - unknown | 4 |
| 2 | Tito Ortiz | USA | April 14, 2000 - September 26, 2003 | 5 |
| 3 (interim) | Randy Couture | USA | June 6, 2003 - September 26, 2003 | 0 |
| 4 | Randy Couture | USA | September 26, 2003 - January 31, 2004 | 0 |
| 5 | Vitor Belfort | Brazil | January 31, 2004 - August 21, 2004 | 0 |
| 6 | Randy Couture | USA | August 21, 2004 - April 16, 2005 | 0 |
| 7 | Chuck Liddell | USA | April 16, 2005 - present | 4 |
Heavyweight
206 to 265 lb (93 to 120 kg)
| .# | .Name | .Nationality | .Reigned period | .Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Coleman | USA | February 7, 1997 - July 27, 1997 | 0 |
| 2 | Maurice Smith | USA | July 27, 1997 - December 21, 1997 | 1 |
| 3 | Randy Couture (title vacated) | USA | December 21, 1997 - unknown | 0 |
| 4 | Bas Rutten | Netherlands | May 7, 1999 - unknown | 0 |
| 5 | Kevin Randleman | USA | November 14, 1999 - November 17, 2000 | 1 |
| 6 | Randy Couture | USA | November 17, 2000 - March 11, 2002 | 2 |
| 7 | Josh Barnett (title vacated) | USA | March 11, 2002- unknown | 0 |
| 8 | Ricco Rodriguez | USA | September 27, 2002 - February 28, 2003 | 0 |
| 9 | Tim Sylvia | USA | April 15, 2006 – March 3, 2007 | 2 |
| 10 | Frank Mir | USA | April 4, 2005 - August 6, 2005 | 0 |
| 11 (Interim) | Andrei Arlovski | Belarus | August 14, 2005 - April 15, 2006 | 1 |
| 12 | Andrei Arlovski | Belarus | August 14, 2005 - April 15, 2006 | 1 |
| 13 | Tim Sylvia | USA | April 15, 2006 - present | 0 |
| 14 | Randy Couture | USA | March 3, 2007 – Present | 0 |
Superfight
| .# | .Name | .Date | .Location | .Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ken Shamrock | July 14, 1995 | Casper, NY | 2 |
| 2 | Dan Severn | May 17, 1996 | Detroit, MI | 0 |
Tournaments
145 to 155 lbs (66 to 70 kg)
| .Event | .Name | .Nationality | .Weight .class* |
.Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UFC 1 | Royce Gracie | Brazil | No limit | November 12, 1993 |
| UFC 2 | Royce Gracie | Brazil | No limit | March 11, 1994 |
| UFC 3 | Steve Jennum | USA | No limit | September 9, 1994 |
| UFC 4 | Royce Gracie | Brazil | No limit | December 16, 1994 |
| UFC 5 | Dan Severn | USA | No limit | February 16, 1995 |
| UFC 6 | Oleg Taktarov | Russia | No limit | July 14, 1995 |
| UFC 7 | Marco Ruas | Brazil | No limit | September 8, 1995 |
| UFC 8 | Don Frye | USA | No limit | February 16, 1996 |
| UFC 10 | Mark Coleman | USA | No limit | July 12, 1996 |
| UFC 11 | Mark Coleman | USA | No limit | September 20, 1996 |
| UFC 12 | Vitor Belfort | Brazil | Heavyweightt | February 7, 1997 |
| UFC 12 | Jerry Bohlander | USA | Lightweight | February 7, 1997 |
| UFC 13 | Randy Couture | USA | Heavyweight | May 30, 1997 |
| UFC 13 | Guy Mezger | USA | Lightweight | May 30, 1997 |
| UFC 14 | Mark Kerr | USA | Heavyweight | March 13, 1997 |
| UFC 14 | Kevin Jackson | USA | Middleweight | March 13, 1997 |
| UFC 15 | Mark Kerr | USA | Heavyweight | October 17, 1997 |
| UFC Japan | Kazushi Sakuraba | Japan | Heavyweight | December 21, 1997 |
| UFC 16 | Pat Miletich | USA | Lightweight | March 13, 1998 |
| UFC 17 | Dan Henderson | USA | Middleweight | May 15, 1998 |
| UFC 23 | Kenichi Yamamoto | Japan | Middleweight | November 14, 1999 - December 21, 2001 |
| RINGS World Title Series | Genki Sudo* | Japan | Middleweight | December 21, 2001 - present |