for other uses see ufc disambiguation . this article is about the ufc organization itself . for the inaugural event which went by the same name see ufc 1 . ultimate fighting championship type subsidiary industry mixed martial arts promotion founded november 1993 1993 11 founder art davie campbell mclaren john milius rorion gracie bob meyrowitz 1 2 headquarters las vegas nevada u.s. key people dana white president marc ratner vp regulatory affairs mick maynard vp talent relations matchmaker parent william morris endeavor website www.ufc.com the ultimate fighting championship ufc is an american mixed martial arts promotion company a subsidiary of the parent company william morris endeavor based in las vegas nevada . it is the largest mma promoter in the world and features most of the top ranked fighters in the sport . 3 based in the united states the ufc produces events worldwide 4 that showcase ten weight divisions and abide by the unified rules of mixed martial arts . 5 the ufc has held over 300 events to date . dana white serves as the president of the ufc . 6 7 8 the first ultimate fighting championship event was held on november 12 1993 at the mcnichols sports arena in denver colorado . 8 the purpose of the early ultimate fighting championship competitions was to identify the most effective martial art in a fight with minimal rules between competitors of different fighting disciplines including boxing brazilian jiu jitsu sambo wrestling muay thai karate judo and other styles . in subsequent competitions fighters began adopting effective techniques from more than one discipline which indirectly helped create an entirely separate style of fighting known as present day mixed martial arts . 9 in 2016 it was sold to wme img for 4 billion . 10 with a tv deal and expansion into europe australia 11 the middle east 12 asia 13 and new markets within the united states the ufc as of 2016 update has gained in popularity along with greater mainstream media coverage . as of 2016 viewers can access live ufc fights and fight replays on their subscription network ufc fight pass at a cost of 7.99 9.99 usd per month via devices like apple tv iphone android xbox roku and google chromecast 14 as well as on pay per view in the u.s. brazil australia canada new zealand and italy . on network tv ufc content is available on fox fox sports 1 and fox sports 2 15 in the u.s. on espn in the caribbean on bt sport in the united kingdom and ireland as well as in 150 countries and 22 different languages worldwide . the ufc plans to continue expanding internationally running shows regularly in canada brazil and the uk with an office established in the uk aimed at expanding the european audience . 16 the ufc has also bought and absorbed rival promotions pride world extreme cagefighting as well as strikeforce and the international fight league . contents 1 history 1.1 early competition early 1990s 1.1.1 emergence of stricter rules 1.2 controversy and reform late 1990s 1.3 the zuffa era early 2000s 1.3.1 struggle for survival and turnaround 1.3.2 the ultimate fighter and rise in popularity 1.4 surging popularity and growth mid 2000s 1.4.1 pride acquisition and integration 1.5 ufc 100 late 2000s mid 2010s 1.5.1 trt 1.5.2 usada 1.5.3 wec merger 1.5.4 strikeforce purchase 1.5.5 fox partnership 1.5.6 women s mma 1.5.7 international expansion 1.6 sale to wme img 2 lawsuit 3 rules 3.1 rounds 3.2 weight divisions current champions 3.3 cage 3.4 attire 3.4.1 reebok uniform 3.5 match outcome 3.6 judging criteria 3.7 fouls 3.7.1 fouls against a grounded opponent 3.8 match conduct 3.9 evolution of the rules 3.10 the ultimate fighter 4 ufc events 4.1 production team 4.2 fighter salaries and contracts 5 ufc records 6 ufc hall of fame 7 media 7.1 music 7.2 video games 7.3 action figures 7.3.1 round 5 7.3.2 jakks pacific 7.4 dvd 7.5 playstation network and xbox live 8 ufc international broadcasters 9 see also 10 notes 11 references 12 external links history edit the former logo of the ufc used from 1993 to 1999 early competition early 1990s edit 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 . the tournament was inspired by the gracies in action video series produced by the gracie family of brazil which featured gracie jiu jitsu students defeating martial arts masters of various disciplines such as karate kung fu and kickboxing . 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 . 17 milius a noted film director and screenwriter as well as a gracie student agreed to act as the event s creative director . davie drafted the business plan and twenty eight investors contributed the initial capital to start wow promotions with the intent to develop the tournament into a television franchise . 18 in 1993 wow promotions sought a television partner and approached pay per view producers tvko hbo set showtime and campbell mclaren at the semaphore entertainment group seg . both tvko and set declined but seg a pioneer in pay per view television which had produced such offbeat events as a gender versus gender tennis match between jimmy connors and martina navratilova became wow s partner in may 1993 . 19 seg contacted video and film art director jason cusson to design the trademarked octagon a signature piece for the event . cusson remained the production designer through ufc 27 . 17 seg devised the name for the show as the ultimate fighting championship . 20 wow promotions and seg produced the first event later called ufc 1 at mcnichols sports arena in denver colorado on november 12 1993 . art davie functioned as the show s booker and matchmaker . 21 the show proposed to find an answer for sports fans questions such as can a wrestler beat a boxer 22 as with most martial arts at the time fighters typically had skills in just one discipline and had little experience against opponents with different skills . 23 the television broadcast featured kickboxers patrick smith and kevin rosier 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 handpicked to represent his family in the competition . royce gracie s submission skills proved the most effective in the inaugural tournament earning him the first ever ufc tournament championship 24 after submitting jimmerson shamrock and gordeau in succession . the show proved extremely successful with 86 592 television subscribers on pay per view . it s disputed whether the promoters intended for the event to become a precursor to a series of 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 . 25 art 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 note 1 would be a continuing series of fighting tournaments a franchise rather than a one night stand . 26 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 in 23 cm height and 400 pounds 180 kg weight disadvantage . 27 many martial artists believed that technique could overcome these size disadvantages and that a skilled fighter could use an opponent s size and strength against him . with the 175 lb 79 kg royce gracie winning three of the first four events the ufc quickly proved that size does not always determine the outcome of the fight . during this early part of the organization the ufc would showcase a bevy of different styles and fighters . aside from the aforementioned royce gracie ken shamrock and patrick smith the competitions also featured competitors such as hall of famer dan severn marco ruas gary goodridge don frye kimo leopoldo oleg taktarov and tank abbott . although the first events were dominated by jiu jitsu other fighting styles became successful first wrestling then ground and pound kickboxing boxing and dirty boxing which eventually melded into modern mixed martial arts . 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 . davie continued with seg as the show s booker and matchmaker as well as the commissioner of ultimate fighting until december 1997 . emergence of stricter rules edit big john mccarthy referees as tank abbott puts cal worsham against the cage at ultimate ultimate 1996 . although ufc used the tagline there are no rules in the early 1990s the ufc did in fact operate with limited rules . it banned biting and eye gouging and frowned on but allowed techniques such as hair pulling headbutting groin strikes and fish hooking . in fact in a ufc 4 qualifying match competitors jason fairn and guy mezger agreed not to pull hair as they both wore pony tails tied back for the match . additionally that same event saw a matchup between keith hackney and joe son in which hackney unleashed a series of groin shots against son while on the ground . the ufc had a reputation especially in the early days as an extremely violent event as evidenced by a disclaimer in the beginning of the ufc 5 broadcast which warned audiences of the violent nature of the sport . ufc 5 also introduced the first singles match a rematch from the inaugural ufc featuring three time champion royce gracie and ken shamrock called the superfight . this proved an important development because singles matches would feature fighters who suffered no prior damage from a previous fight in the same event unlike tournament matches . singles matches would become a staple in the ufc for years to come . the superfight began as a non tournament match that would determine the first reigning ufc champion for tournament winners to face ; 28 it later evolved into a match that could feature either title matches or non title matches . the superfight would eventually completely phase out tournament matches ; by ufc brazil the ufc abandoned the tournament format for an entire card of singles matches aside from a one time ufc japan tournament featuring japanese fighters . ufc 6 was the first event to feature the crowning of the first non tournament ufc champion ken shamrock . controversy and reform late 1990s edit the violent nature of the burgeoning sport quickly drew the attention of the u.s. authorities . 29 senator john mccain r az saw a tape of the first ufc events and immediately found it abhorrent . mccain himself led a campaign to ban ufc calling it human cockfighting and sending letters to the governors of all fifty us states asking them to ban the event . 30 thirty six states enacted laws that banned no hold barred fighting including new york which enacted the ban on the eve of ufc 12 forcing a