subject: Ufc Tickets : Popularity Took Another Major Surge In 2009 With Ufc 100 [print this page] The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in the United States that hosts most of the top-ranked fighters in the world[2] and produces numerous events worldwide. The UFC has five weight-divisions and enforces the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts.Dana White serves as the president of the UFC; Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta control its parent company, Zuffa, LLC.
Inspired by vale tudo tournaments in Brazil,the UFC and the sport of MMA have roots in the ancient Olympic combat sport of Pankration in 648 B.C.The UFC held its first competition in Denver, Colorado in 1993. Showcasing fighters of different disciplines including boxing, Brazilian jiu jitsu, wrestling, Muay Thai and other styles the UFC sought to identify the most effective martial art in a real fight. After a period of political backlash, the UFC gradually underwent reform by embracing stricter rules and achieving sanctioning with State Athletic Commissions.
With a cable-television deal and expansion into Canada, Europe, Australia the Middle East, Asia and new markets within the United States, the UFC as of 2010 has gained in popularity, along with greater mainstream media coverage. As of 2010 viewers can access UFC programming on pay-per-view television in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and Italy. UFC programming can also be found on Spike and Versus in the U.S., in the United Kingdom and Ireland on ESPN, as well as in over 130 countries and 20 different languages worldwide.
Popularity took another major surge in 2009 with UFC 100 and the 10 events preceding it including UFC 90, 91, 92, 94 and 98. UFC 100 was a massive success garnering 1.7 million buys[66] under the drawing power of former NCAA wrestling champion and ex-WWE star Brock Lesnar and his rematch with former Heavyweight champion Frank Mir, Canadian superstar Georges St-Pierre going head-to-head with Brazilian knockout artist Thiago Alves, and Pride legend Dan Henderson opposing British middleweight Michael Bisping; rival coaches on The Ultimate Fighter: U.S.A. vs U.K..
Rich Franklin (left) knocked out Chuck Liddell at UFC 115 in Vancouver.UFC 100 was also unique in that it drew significant interest from ESPN, which provided extensive coverage of the event in the days preceding and following it. In fact, ESPN would eventually devote additional coverage of the UFC and other MMA news with the television debut of "MMA Live" on ESPN2 in May 2010.
The buzz from UFC 100 was hampered significantly in the second half of 2009 after a rash of injuries and other health-related issues including Brock Lesnar's life-threatening bout with diverticulitis forcing the organization to continuously scramble and reshuffle its lineup for several events.
However, the momentum gradually began to pick up in the first quarter of 2010 after victories from defending champions Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva, as well as Lyoto Machida's first career defeat to "Shogun" Rua for the light heavyweight title. These fights segued into a very popular clash between former champions and rivals Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson at UFC 114, featuring the UFC's first main event headlined by African-American fighters.The event scored over 1 million pay per view buys as Evans secured a unanimous decision victory.
This momentum carried into the summer of 2010 at UFC 116, which featured the return of Brock Lesnar defending his heavyweight title against the undefeated interim-champion Shane Carwin before 1.25 million PPV viewers.Lesnar survived an early barrage of Carwin's punches in a contest that was nearly stopped by referee Josh Rosenthal.However, Lesnar recovered in the second round to submit Carwin via arm triangle choke to retain his heavyweight title. The event as a whole was critically acclaimed in the media for living up to the hype with a number of exciting fights that were featured on the televised card.
The current rules for the Ultimate Fighting Championship were originally established by the New Jersey Athletic Control Board.The "Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts" that New Jersey established has been adopted in other states that regulate mixed martial arts, including Nevada, Louisiana, and California. These rules are also used by many other promotions within the United States, becoming mandatory for those states that have adopted the rules, and so have become the standard de facto set of rules for professional mixed martial arts across the country.
