Introduction to the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship

For years I was a boxing fan. I grew up watching Mike Tyson turn from indestructible to indecent. I fell for Prince Naseem's hype until Marco Antonio Barrera destroyed him. I followed the Golden Boy, Oscar de la Hoya, as he smashed his way through six weight classes.

That's my excuse for being a latecomer to the UFC. I would invite friends to the bar for the latest boxing PPV, and they would whine about how boxing was dull, and how I needed to leave the dying mule behind and get into MMA.

I went to a few UFC events. I said I'd give it a chance. My immediate impression was from an unschooled eye. I thought it was brutality for the sake of entertainment. I couldn't see the sportsmanship. And it seemed random, like a highly skilled fighter could be taken down by one lucky kick. Boxing, I said, is a truer test of skill.

Since I'm starting this Hub history, you can guess that I've come around on that sentiment. The more UFC I watched, the more I began to understand the strategy. I saw the balance of mental focus and defense and power and heart. And I could finally see the ground game as something much more complicated than homo-erotic wrestling.

But the more I watched, the more questions I had. Where did these fighters come from? What losses caused them to change their tack and broaden their skills? What wins made them so popular? I realized how much of UFC history I was missing.

That's when I decided to go back to the genesis: UFC 1: The Beginning. Thus my education about the evolution of UFC began.

This blog will explore the epic highlights, the rule changes, the rise and fall of heroes, and the path that has made mixed martial arts the most popular sport in the world.

And to step back in time and answer my own premature criticism:

War is brutal. The UFC is consensual. And it's bloody awesome.

Jump to the next article: UFC 1: The Beginning