The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada, which is owned and operated by Endeavor Group Holdings along with Silver Lake Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and MSD Capital via Zuffa, LLC. It is the largest MMA promotion company in the world and features some of the highest-level fighters in the sport on its roster. The UFC produces events worldwide that showcase twelve weight divisions and abides by the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. As of 2020, the UFC has held over 500 events. Dana White has been UFC president since 2001. Under White's stewardship, the UFC has grown into a globally popular multi-billion-dollar enterprise.
Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorporating techniques from various combat sports and martial arts from around the world. The first documented use of the term mixed martial arts was in a review of UFC 1 by television critic Howard Rosenberg in 1993. The question of who actually coined the term is subject to debate.
Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports.
Shooto is a combat sport and mixed martial arts organization that is governed by the Shooto Association and the International Shooto Commission. Shooto was originally formed in 1985, as an organization and as a particular fighting system derived from shoot wrestling. Practitioners are referred to as shooters, similarly to practitioners of shoot wrestling. Shooto rules have evolved such that their events are now true mixed martial arts competitions.
The super heavyweight division in mixed martial arts has no weight limit but generally refers to competitors weighing above 265 lb (120 kg). This is the definition used by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and the Association of Boxing Commissions.
Mixed martial arts weight classes are weight classes that pertain to the sport of mixed martial arts.
Most rule sets for mixed martial arts (MMA) competitions have evolved since the early days of Vale Tudo. As a result of health, legal, and moral concerns, many different rulesets were created, which give different countries and promotions very different tactics and strategies. Similarly, shoot wrestling organizations, such as Shooto, expanded their rulesets to integrate elements of Vale Tudo into their sport. However, for the most part, fighters accustomed to one rule set can easily acclimate to the others.
A ring announcer is an in-ring employee or contractor for a boxing, professional wrestling or mixed martial arts event or promotion, who introduces the competitors to the audience.
Gabriel G. "Gabe" Ruediger is a former American mixed martial artist, who competed in the Lightweight division for the UFC, WEC and Tachi Palace Fights. He is a former WEC Lightweight Champion, and former TPF Lightweight Champion.
SoftBank presents Dynamite!! USA was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event co-promoted by Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG), the promoters of K-1 kickboxing events and Hero's MMA events, and EliteXC. The event was held on Saturday, June 2, 2007 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. Mauro Ranallo, Bill Goldberg, and Jay Glazer did commentary.
A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, and in competitive sports, to focus on developing skills and strategies to defeat their opponents. A military training camp generally refers to the period of boot camp, or further or refresher training.
Mixed martial arts (MMA) in the United States was sanctioned under the Unified Rules in the states of New Jersey and Nevada in 2001, and is now regulated in all but two states by their combat sport commissions, MMA regulation outside the US varies by country. As of April 2019, there have been seven recorded deaths resulting from sanctioned contests and nine from unregulated bouts, none however in the largest MMA promotion Ultimate Fighting Championship. A 2006 study suggests that the risk of injury in general in MMA is comparable to that in professional boxing. For professional boxing matches, the Manuel Velazquez Boxing Fatality Collection lists 923 deaths during the 118-year period of 1890–2007.
The strawweight division in mixed martial arts is for competitors weighing between 106 and 115 lb. It sits between the lighter atomweight division and the heavier flyweight division.
Andy Foster is the current Executive Director of the California State Athletic Commission (2012–present) and former Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission (2008–2012) and former professional mixed martial artist.
Mixed martial arts (MMA) has developed in Australia from a wide cross-section of sporting and martial arts disciplines to become the most popular combat sport in Australia.
While mixed martial arts is primarily a male dominated sport, it does have female athletes. For instance, Female competition in Japan includes promotions such as DEEP Jewels. Now defunct promotions that featured female fighters were Valkyrie, and Smackgirl. Professional mixed martial arts organizations in the United States that invite women to compete are industry leader Ultimate Fighting Championship, the all female Invicta Fighting Championships, Resurrection Fighting Alliance, Bellator Fighting Championships, and Legacy Fighting Championship. Now defunct promotions that featured female fighters were Strikeforce and EliteXC.
The International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) was founded on 29 February 2012 as the international governing body for amateur Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). Registered as a non-profit organisation under Swedish law, IMMAF serves as a democratic hub for national MMA federations and supports the growth of regulation and sport safety globally by aiding countries in the formation of federations where none exist. IMMAF launched with support of market leader, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The UFC is among promotions sanctioned by federations under the IMMAF umbrella in countries that include Brazil and Sweden.
Sage Monroe Northcutt is an American professional mixed martial artist who is currently competing in the Lightweight division of ONE Championship, although he has competed in the Welterweight division as well. He has also previously competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Luke Daniel Sanders is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor since 2011, he has also formerly competed for Strikeforce and the RFA.
Mixed martial arts (MMA) is the fastest growing sport in the United States.
