This is a list of events held and scheduled by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. UFCs first event, UFC 1, took place on November 12, 1993.
UFC 1: The Beginning
editThe Ultimate Fighting Championship (later renamed UFC 1: The Beginning) was the first mixed martial arts event by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), held at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado, on November 12, 1993. The event was broadcast live on pay-per-view and later released on home video.[1] The event used an eight-man tournament format, with the winner receiving $50,000.[2] The tournament had no weight classes and consisted of single-round fights to the finish. The match only ended by submission, knockout, throwing in the towel, or referee stoppage due to a severe cut or injury. Gloves were allowed as shown by Art Jimmerson in his Quarterfinal bout against Royce Gracie, Jimmerson had only one boxing glove on.
Despite being billed as having "no rules" there were limitations on what the fighters could do, including no biting and no eye gouging. Royce Gracie won the tournament by defeating Gerard Gordeau via tap out due to a rear naked choke. The referees for UFC 1 were João Alberto Barreto and Hélio Vigio, two veteran vale tudo referees from Brazil.
UFC 2: No Way Out
editUFC 2: No Way Out (later renamed UFC 2 or The Ultimate Fighting Championship 2) was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on March 11, 1994, at Mammoth Gardens in Denver, Colorado.[3]UFC 2 featured a sixteen-man tournament format, the first and only one in UFC's history, with the winner receiving $60,000. The first seven bouts were not aired on the live pay-per-view broadcast, but were on the home video version. The tournament had no weight classes or weight limits. Matches had no time limit or rounds, therefore no judges were used. [4]UFC 2 marked the debut of referee Big John McCarthy, arguably[by whom?] the most famous referee in the sport of MMA.[5] Since this was the only 16-man tournament in UFC history, Royce Gracie is the only person to have ever fought and won 4 fights in 1 night.[6]
UFC 3: The American Dream
editUFC 3: The American Dream was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on September 9, 1994, at Grady Cole Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Replacement fighter Steve Jennum won the tournament by defeating Harold Howard via submission due to strikes, despite only fighting in the finals. Jennum was a replacement for Ken Shamrock, who made it to the finals but withdrew due to injury. This was the first UFC tournament that was not won by Royce Gracie (who could not continue due to fatigue). After Jennum won the tournament as an alternate, the UFC instituted alternate qualifying bouts to balance out fatigue, and lessen the advantage that alternates previously had entering the tournament without fighting quarterfinal bouts.
References
edit- ^ Rosenberg, Howard (November 15, 1993). "Television: Pay-Per-View Battle, Instead of Being Merely Gory and Funny, Gets Interesting After the First Two Bouts". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 1, 2011.
- ^ Rossen, Jake (2009-07-14). "Lesnar, GSP Lead UFC 100 Bounty". Sherdog. Retrieved 2011-02-08.
- ^ Fillmore Auditorium, Denver, United States (1994-03-11). "UFC 2 - No Way Out". Sherdog.com. Retrieved 2012-07-08.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Sandomir, Richard (March 8, 1994). "TV SPORTS; Death Is Cheap: Maybe It's Just $14.95". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-08-17.
- ^ "'Big' John McCarthy to referee UFC on Versus". USA Today. June 26, 2010. Retrieved June 8, 2012.
- ^ Gentry, Clyde (2005). No Holds Barred: Ultimate Fighting and the Martial Arts Revolution.