![]() | |
Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Mixed martial arts promotion |
Founded | 2009 |
Founder | Ari Taub |
Headquarters | , |
Key people | Ari Taub, Founder and CEO |
Website | www |
Hard Knocks Fighting is a mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion in North America. [1] Hard Knocks Fighting was founded in 2009 by Canadian Olympic wrestler Ari Taub. [2] Hard Knocks Fighting is known for its local fighter support and ongoing charity efforts and where Ronda Rousey secured her second career MMA victory. [3] [4]
In 2009, Canadian Olympic wrestler Ari Taub founded Hard Knocks Fighting. Ari Taub an Olympic wrestler and Calgary based lawyer overcomes local city bylaws to win legal challenges to get MMA sanctioned in Calgary. [5] In December 2011, media giant ESPN began airing Hard Knocks Fighting in 40 countries and over 50 million homes. [6] [7] Hard Knocks Fighting produces 15 live events annually, as well as shoulder programming including feature fights, highlight shows, and documentaries.
Events name | Date | Venue | Location |
---|---|---|---|
HK1 | March 26, 2009 | Century Casinos | Calgary, Alberta |
HK2 | June 27, 2009 | Century Casinos | Calgary, Alberta |
HK3 | September 26, 2009 | Century Casinos | Calgary, Alberta |
HK4 | November 7, 2009 | Century Casinos | Calgary, Alberta |
HK5 | January 30, 2010 | Century Casinos | Calgary, Alberta |
HK6 | April 9, 2010 | Century Casinos | Calgary, Alberta |
HK7 | June 4, 2010 | Century Casinos | Calgary, Alberta |
HK8 | September 10, 2010 | Century Casinos | Calgary, Alberta |
HK9 | November 5, 2010 | Century Casinos | Calgary, Alberta |
HK10 | January 28, 2011 | Century Casinos | Calgary, Alberta |
HK12 | June 17, 2011 | Century Casinos | Calgary, Alberta |
HK13 | May 27, 2011 | Cypress Centre Medicine Hat Exhibition and Stampede | Medicine Hat, Alberta |
HK14 | September 23, 2011 | Century Casinos | Calgary, Alberta |
HK15 | October 7, 2011 | Turvey Centre | Regina, MB |
HK16 | October 22, 2011 | Spectra Place | Estevan, SK |
HK17 | March 26, 2009 | Cypress Centre Medicine Hat Exhibition and Stampede | Medicine Hat, Alberta |
HK18 | November 25, 2011 | Century Casinos | Calgary, Alberta |
HK19 | January 20, 2012 | Century Casinos | Calgary, Alberta |
HK20 | March 26, 2009 | Cypress Centre Medicine Hat Exhibition and Stampede | Medicine Hat, Alberta |
HK21 | March 26, 2009 | Spectra Place | Estevan, SK |
HK22 | March 16, 2012 | Century Casinos | Calgary, Alberta |
HK23 | March 26, 2009 | Subway Soccer Centre | Calgary, Alberta |
HK24 | March 26, 2009 | Spectra Place | Estevan, SK |
HK25 | June 15, 2012 | Cypress Centre Medicine Hat Exhibition and Stampede | Medicine Hat, Alberta |
HK26 | July 19, 2012 | Art Hauser Centre Arena | Calgary, Alberta |
HK27 | September 7, 2012 | Subway Soccer Centre | Calgary, Alberta |
HK28 | September 14, 2012 | Spectra Place | Estevan, SK |
HK29 | October 26, 2012 | Century Casinos | Calgary, Alberta |
HK30 | February 8, 2013 | Century Casinos | Calgary, Alberta |
HK31 | March 26, 2009 | Spectra Place | Estevan, SK |
HK32 | April 26, 2013 | Century Casinos | Calgary, Alberta |
HK33 | May 25, 2013 | Spectra Place | Estevan, SK |
HK34 | January 17, 2014 | Century Casinos | Calgary, Alberta |
HK35 | April 25, 2014 | Century Casinos | Calgary, Alberta |
HK36 | March 26, 2009 | North Peace Arena - Rumble in the North | Fort St. John, BC [14] [15] |
HK37 | June 13, 2014 | Century Casinos | Calgary, Alberta [16] |
HK38 | October 3, 2014 | Markin MacPhail Centre - WinSport | Calgary, Alberta |
HK39 | November 14, 2014 | Century Casinos | Calgary, Alberta |
HK40 | December 12, 2014 | Century Casinos | Calgary, Alberta [17] |
HK41 | January 30, 2015 | Century Casinos | Calgary, Alberta |
HK42 | March 20, 2015 | Century Casinos | Calgary, Alberta |
HK43 | May 22, 2015 | Markin MacPhail Centre - WinSport | Calgary, Alberta [18] |
HK44 | June 26, 2015 | Century Casinos | Calgary, Alberta [19] |
HK45 | September 25, 2015 | Markin MacPhail Centre - WinSport | Calgary, Alberta |
HK46 | October 23, 2015 | Markin MacPhail Centre - WinSport | Calgary, Alberta |
HK47 | November 13, 2015 | Century Casinos | Calgary, Alberta |
HK48 | January 29, 2016 | Markin MacPhail Centre - WinSport | Calgary, Alberta |
HK49 | April 22, 2016 | Markin MacPahil Centre - WinSport | Calgary, Alberta |
HK50 | June 17, 2016 | Century Casino | Calgary, Alberta |
HK51 | October 14, 2016 | WinSport | Calgary, Alberta |
Division | Upper weight limit | Champion | Contestant type |
---|---|---|---|
Light Heavyweight | 205 lb (93 kg) | ![]() | Professional |
Middleweight | 185 lb (84 kg) | ![]() | Amateur |
Welterweight | 170 lb (77 kg) | ![]() | Professional |
Lightweight | 155 lb (70 kg) | ![]() | Professional |
Lightweight | 155 lb (70 kg) | ![]() | Amateur |
Featherweight | 145 lb (66 kg) | ![]() | Amateur |
Bantamweight | 135 lb (61 kg) | ![]() | Professional |
Sara McMann is an American female mixed martial artist currently signed to Bellator MMA, competing in the Women's Featherweight division. She is a former Olympic wrestler and received a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and was a World Silver Medalist and two-time Bronze Medalist. She would then transition to MMA, most notably competing in the bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)
A ring girl is a woman who enters the ring between rounds of a combat sport, carrying a sign that displays the number of the upcoming round. Ring girls are often seen in boxing, kickboxing and mixed martial arts.
Holly Rene Holm Kirkpatrick is an American mixed martial artist. She competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where she is a former Women's Bantamweight Champion.
Inside MMA was a live mixed martial arts news magazine, which aired on AXS TV, immediately following the network's live AXS TV Fights broadcasts. Hosted by Mauro Ranallo and UFC Hall of Famer Bas Rutten, the series provided an in-depth look at the world of MMA, with live breakdowns, talk, highlights, and analysis from major MMA organizations such as the UFC, Bellator, and the World Series of Fighting. Inside MMA debuted on AXS TV, then known as HDNET, in September 2007, and was the longest-running MMA news show on television.
Ronda Jean Rousey is an American professional wrestler, actress, and former judoka and mixed martial artist. She is best known for her tenure in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and WWE.
Miesha Tate is an American professional mixed martial artist. She currently competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), in which she is a former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion. Tate formerly competed for Strikeforce, in which she is a former Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion. She was also the vice president of ONE Championship. As of July 2, 2024, she is #9 in the UFC women's bantamweight rankings.
Travis Kuualiialoha Browne is a retired American mixed martial artist who last competed as a Heavyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Amanda Nunes is a Brazilian retired professional mixed martial artist. She competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where she is the former UFC Women's Featherweight Champion and two-time UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion. She was ranked #1 in the UFC women's pound-for-pound rankings at the time of her retirement.
Invicta Fighting Championships, also known as Invicta FC, is an American professional mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion dedicated to women's mixed martial arts that was founded in 2012 by Janet Martin and Shannon Knapp. The promotion is currently owned by the Canadian-based Anthem Sports & Entertainment.
Cat Zingano is an American mixed martial artist, currently signed to Bellator MMA, competing in the Women's Featherweight division. Zingano also competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and on April 13, 2013, she became the first woman to win a UFC fight by technical knockout (TKO). At the time of her departure from the UFC, she was No. 7 in the official UFC bantamweight rankings.
Ari Michael Taub is a Canadian Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler. He won two gold medals at the 1989 Maccabiah Games in Israel, and a gold medal at the 2007 Commonwealth Wrestling Championship. He competed for Canada in the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey was a series of mixed martial arts bouts booked by Strikeforce and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). In 2011, the fighters began a rivalry via social media and a series of interviews, with Rousey expressing an interest in fighting Tate for Tate's Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Championship. As the feud garnered increased attention from fans and the press, Tate and Rousey were ultimately chosen to headline a Strikeforce show on March 3, 2012. This marked a rare occurrence of women being placed in the main event of a mixed martial arts (MMA) card.
Julianna Nicole Peña is an American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where she is a former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion. Peña is the first woman to win The Ultimate Fighter. As of August 1, 2022, she is #1 in the UFC women's bantamweight rankings, and as of January 23, 2024, she is ranked #5 in the UFC women's pound-for-pound rankings.
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. There has been a growing awareness of women in mixed martial arts due to popular female fighters and personalities such as Amanda Nunes, Megumi Fujii, Gina Carano, Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate, Holly Holm, Alexa Grasso, and Joanna Jędrzejczyk and among others. Carano became known as "the face of women's MMA" after appearing in a number of EliteXC events. This was furthered by her appearances on MGM Television's 2008 revival of their game show American Gladiators.
Bethe Correia is a retired Brazilian mixed martial artist who competed in the women's bantamweight division. A professional mixed martial artist since 2012, Correia has competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Krzysztof Jotko is a Polish mixed martial artist currently competing in the Light Heavyweight division. He has previously fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Professional Fighters League (PFL).
UFC 193: Rousey vs. Holm was a mixed martial arts event held on 14 November 2015, at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia. It was the most attended UFC event in the history of the company at the time, with 56,214 people filling the stadium. Although Ronda Rousey was heavily favored to defeat Holly Holm, Holm gave Rousey her first career defeat.
Mikhail Cirkunovs, better known as Misha Cirkunov is a Latvian-born Canadian professional mixed martial artist, who most recently competed in the Light heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Volkan Oezdemir is a Swiss professional mixed martial artist and former kickboxer. He currently competes in the Light heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor since 2010, Oezdemir formerly competed for Bellator. As a kickboxer, he competed for Superkombat Fighting Championship in their heavyweight division. As of 25 June 2024, he is #7 in the UFC light heavyweight rankings.
Ryan Spann is an American mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2013, he has also fought for the Legacy Fighting Alliance, where he was the Light Heavyweight Champion.