While it might seem like mixed martial arts has long been popular, the truth of the matter is that MMA has only been around since the early 1990s and for many years struggled to gain popularity. There are many pivotal moments in the history of the sport, such as UFC 1, which was held in 1993. Since that time, there have been many landmark moments and the following are just the tip of the iceberg.
Clearly UFC 1, back in 1993, was a pivotal event in mixed martial art history, but while it is noteworthy, viewership was low. About 86,000 buys were recorded for this live event which was broadcast via pay-per-view. It took more than 15 years to garner more than one million pay-per-view buys, and this momentous goal was reached at 2008's UFC 91, which featured a great bout between Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar.
While some people probably think watching MMA would be more interesting without rules, most sports have them and they do tend to make things safer for athletes and hopefully as fair as possible. For many years, different MMA organizations in the United States had differing rules, but in 2009, the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts were adopted formally and these rules have been used by many organizations since the early 2000s. Not only do the rules protect fighters, they lend legitimacy to a sport that was once criticized as "human cockfighting" by a certain United States senator named John McCain.
While it took quite a bit of time to build an audience for MMA, a few TV shows helped make the sport more successful and mainstream. Spike TV began airing episodes of The Ultimate Fighter in 2005 and viewers soon became hooked, and not just the ones that already were following MMA. It helped that the first two coaches were highly popular veterans of the sport - Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture.
The introduction of women into the sport has been a slow process, and while women have competed for organizations such as Strikeforce and Bellator for several years, it took UFC much longer to get with the program and allow sanctioned MMA events for women. The 2009 Strikeforce bout between Gina Carano and Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos (now Justino) not only proved that people were interested in watching women fight, but that the ladies were great fighters.
It took Dana White and the UFC 30 years to include women on the fight card, but when they finally did, it was in a big way. During UFC 157 in February, 2013, Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche went head to head during the main fight of the night, which had a total gate of more than $1.3 million.
Clearly UFC 1, back in 1993, was a pivotal event in mixed martial art history, but while it is noteworthy, viewership was low. About 86,000 buys were recorded for this live event which was broadcast via pay-per-view. It took more than 15 years to garner more than one million pay-per-view buys, and this momentous goal was reached at 2008's UFC 91, which featured a great bout between Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar.
While some people probably think watching MMA would be more interesting without rules, most sports have them and they do tend to make things safer for athletes and hopefully as fair as possible. For many years, different MMA organizations in the United States had differing rules, but in 2009, the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts were adopted formally and these rules have been used by many organizations since the early 2000s. Not only do the rules protect fighters, they lend legitimacy to a sport that was once criticized as "human cockfighting" by a certain United States senator named John McCain.
While it took quite a bit of time to build an audience for MMA, a few TV shows helped make the sport more successful and mainstream. Spike TV began airing episodes of The Ultimate Fighter in 2005 and viewers soon became hooked, and not just the ones that already were following MMA. It helped that the first two coaches were highly popular veterans of the sport - Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture.
The introduction of women into the sport has been a slow process, and while women have competed for organizations such as Strikeforce and Bellator for several years, it took UFC much longer to get with the program and allow sanctioned MMA events for women. The 2009 Strikeforce bout between Gina Carano and Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos (now Justino) not only proved that people were interested in watching women fight, but that the ladies were great fighters.
It took Dana White and the UFC 30 years to include women on the fight card, but when they finally did, it was in a big way. During UFC 157 in February, 2013, Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche went head to head during the main fight of the night, which had a total gate of more than $1.3 million.
About the Author:
Rod Bourgoine enjoys blogging about mixed martial arts benefits. For more info about San Diego mixed martial arts classes or to find a jiu jitsu gym in San Diego, go to The Arena MMA website today.
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