Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is a blend of several techniques from different martial arts such as kick boxing, wrestling, jiu jitsu, and more.1 The evolution of mixed martial arts is one of an interesting history but did not become known until the early 1990s. Martial arts has always been split within their own realms of style and competition, but never blended under one roof, not until Rorian Gracie came over into the United States. Rorian Gracie came over to the United States in the late 1970s. He was a black belt in Gracie Jiu Jitsu and wanted to prove unto others that his style of martial art was the greatest.2 Following his arrival, Gracie established his own gym and throughout the years he would invite others into his gym to demonstrate to others that jiu jitsu was the best, and he did. He beat several known experienced martial artists with different backgrounds and continuously proved unto others that jiu jitsu dominates among all martial arts. His way of competing upon others began to spark the interest of others, such as Art Davie.3
Davie was experienced in the fight world, and he was interested in discovering which martial art is the best. Davie and Gracie began to start discussing what this competition would look like and how they could draw the attention of other competitors.4 Several factors went into developing the outlook of this competition; first was the video game Mortal Kombat. Mortal Kombat was a popular arcade fighting game in the early 1990s that grew in popularity fast for its detailed graphics and competitive style of play.5 This would drive fans into watching something like this martial arts competition because it gave them a chance to see something similar in person. After all of the discussion Gracie and Davie decided on a one-day tournament called the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) with eight different fighters, all different martial arts disciplines, and have them compete.6
UFC 1 took place November 12, 1993, in Denver, Colorado. The beginning stages of UFC had too little to no rules among the fighters. There were no weight classes, no gloves, shoes could be on or off; they wanted to make it as entertaining as possible for the viewers with also proving a point among the martial arts community.7 The first fight was Teila Tuli, a sumo wrestler, and Gerard Gordeau, a kickboxer. The size difference between the two fighters was very noticiable and many were intrigued right away by this, especially when Gordeau won quickly by a devastating kick to Tuli.8 The crowd was instantly involved in this and was excited to witness more. Royce Gracie, the younger brother of Rorian, represented the Gracie name in jiu jitsu during this tournament. Royce proved many people wrong within this tournament; he was the smallest guy in every one of his fights but dominated each and every one of them. Royce would go on in winning the tournament and establish jiu jitsu as the dominant martial art leading into what is now known as mixed martial arts. After seeing the influence of being able to be dominated on the ground, every martial artist was willing to learn and compete in the next UFC.9
Footnotes:
[1]Andrew F. Krohn, MMA: UFC Unleashed, (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO, 2024) 9-10.
[2] Fighting for a Generation: 20 Years of the UFC, Directed by Adam Condal, Aired November 5, 2013, on Amazon Prime. https://www.primevideo.com/detail/Fighting-for-a-Generation-20-Years-of-the-UFC/0TRBK7Z6YGWZWA4VP2F183BBE3.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid.
Citations:
Fighting for a Generation: 20 Years of the UFC. Directed by Adam Condal. Aired November 5, 2013, on Amazon Prime. https://www.primevideo.com/detail/Fighting-for-a-Generation-20-Years-of-the-UFC/0TRBK7Z6YGWZWA4VP2F183BBE3.
Krohn, Andrew F. MMA : UFC Unleashed. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO, 2024.