| Mixed martial arts in the United States | |
|---|---|
 | |
Audience records | |
| Single match | 20,427 (UFC 205) [1] |
Mixed martial arts (MMA) is the fastest growing sport in the United States. [2]
| Mixed martial arts in the United States | |
|---|---|
| | |
Audience records | |
| Single match | 20,427 (UFC 205) [1] |
Mixed martial arts (MMA) is the fastest growing sport in the United States. [2]
During the late 1960s to early 1970s, the concept of combining the elements of multiple martial arts was popularized in the West by Chinese-American martial artist Bruce Lee via his system of Jeet Kune Do. Lee believed that "the best fighter is not a Boxer, Karate or Judo man. The best fighter is someone who can adapt to any style, to be formless, to adopt an individual's own style and not following the system of styles." In 2004, UFC President Dana White would call Lee the "father of mixed martial arts" stating: "If you look at the way Bruce Lee trained, the way he fought, and many of the things he wrote, he said the perfect style was no style. You take a little something from everything. You take the good things from every different discipline, use what works, and you throw the rest away". [3]
Gene LeBell v. Milo Savage, a judoka and a boxer respectively, was thought to be one of the earliest examples of MMA in the United States. [4] [5]
Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki took place in Japan between American boxer Muhammad Ali and Japanese wrestler Antonio Inoki in 1976. The classic match-up between professional boxer and professional wrestler turned sour as each fighter refused to engage in the other's style, and after a 15-round stalemate it was declared a draw. [6] In the United States, the fight sold at least 2 million or more pay-per-view buys on closed-circuit theater TV, but received mixed reactions from audiences. [7] The fight played an important role in the history of mixed martial arts. [8] The earliest example of a modern MMA contest held in America was introduced in Pittsburgh, Penn. in 1979.
Regulated mixed martial arts competitions were introduced in the United States by CV Productions, Inc. Its first competition, called Tough Guy Contest was held on March 20, 1980, New Kensington, Pennsylvania, Holiday Inn. During that year the company renamed the brand to Super Fighters and sanctioned ten regulated tournaments in Pennsylvania. In 1983, Pennsylvania State Senate passed a bill that specifically called for: "Prohibiting Tough Guy contests or Battle of the Brawlers contests", and ended the sport. [9] [10] [11]
In 1993, the Gracie family introduced their form of Brazilian jiu-jitsu to the US. [12] [13] This led to the creation of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and begun with the UFC 1 event, held in Denver in November 1993. [14] [15] The sport was initially criticized for being too violent and brutal. [16] [17]
The sport of mixed martial arts was banned in 1997 in New York. [18] At one time the sport was banned in most parts of the United States, which was spearheaded by John McCain who called MMA human cockfighting. [19] [20] [21]
In September 2000, the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board began to allow mixed martial arts in New Jersey. This would be the basis of Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. [22] [23]
West Virginia became the 44th state to regulate mixed martial arts on March 24, 2011. [24] On March 8, 2012, Wyoming became the 45th state to regulate MMA. [25] On May 4, 2012, it was announced that Vermont had become the 46th state to regulate MMA. [26] [27] Legislation allowing MMA in Connecticut came into effect on October 1, 2013, making it the 47th state to regulate the sport. [28] [29]
On March 22, 2016, the New York State Assembly voted to lift the State's 1997 ban on MMA and on April 14, 2016 Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the bill legalizing and regulating the sport into law. New York was the last state to legalize the sport in the United States. [30]
The two most prominent promotions are UFC and Bellator. Other promotions include: Professional Fighters League in Washington D.C., Cage Fury Fighting Championships in New Jersey, King of the Cage in Southern California, Resurrection Fighting Alliance in Kearney, Nebraska, Legacy Fighting Championships based out of Houston, Texas, Titan Fighting Championship based out of Kansas City, Kansas.
The first recorded US female competition was at an IFC 4 [31] on March 28, 1997. This was soon followed by an IFC four women tournament sanctioned by the Louisiana Boxing and Wrestling Commission on September 5, 1997 in Baton Rouge. [32]
All female Mixed Martial Arts Organization Invicta FC is based out of Enka, North Carolina.
The UFC is the most popular MMA organization in the United States and is broadcast on ESPN. [33] [34] Its major rival for viewers is Bellator which is broadcast on Showtime. [35]
Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorporating techniques from various combat sports 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.
PRIDE Fighting Championships was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts events, broadcast to about 40 countries worldwide. PRIDE was owned by the holding company Dream Stage Entertainment (DSE).
Vale Tudo, also known No Holds Barred (NHB) in the United States, is an unarmed, full-contact combat sport with relatively few rules. It became popular in Brazil during the 20th century and would eventually evolve into modern Mixed martial arts (MMA). For years "Vale Tudo" was used as a synonym for MMA in Brazil, but the term fell into disuse due to the emergence of stricter rules and the influence of the media to have a more "civilized" name. It is now used to refer to an early, more rules-free stage of the modern sport.
Pancrase is a Japanese mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Tokyo. It was founded in 1993 by professional wrestlers Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki.
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, first as a particular fighting system and then in 1989 as a mixed martial arts promotion. It is considered one of the first true mixed martial arts competitions, with its Vale Tudo Japan events being essential to the rise of PRIDE Fighting Championships and the development of modern MMA. Many Japanese MMA fighters had their start at Shooto and the organization still holds both professional and amateur tournaments.
Shootfighting is a martial art and combat sport, with competitions governed by the International Shootfighting Association (ISFA). It incorporates techniques from a multitude of traditional martial arts, the most principal of these being wrestling and kenpo.
Shoot wrestling is a combat sport that originated in Japan's professional wrestling circuit of the 1970s. Professional wrestlers of that era attempted to use more realistic or even "full contact" moves in their matches to increase their excitement, diminishing or eschewing the theatrical elements, looking more similar to an actual, unscripted fight. The name "shoot wrestling" comes from the professional wrestling term "shoot", which refers to any unscripted occurrence within a scripted wrestling event. Prior to the emergence of the current sport of shoot wrestling, the term was commonly used in the professional wrestling business, particularly in the United Kingdom, as a synonym for the sport of catch wrestling. Shoot wrestling can be used to describe a range of hybrid fighting systems such as shootfighting, shoot boxing and the styles of mixed martial arts done in the Shooto, Pancrase and RINGS promotions. Organizations, promotions and gyms with origins in shoot wrestling are referred as the "U-Kei".
Nickolas Robert Diaz is an American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Diaz is a former Strikeforce, WEC and IFC welterweight champion and a UFC title challenger. He also notably competed in PRIDE, EliteXC, DREAM, and Shooto. Nick is the older brother of former UFC fighter Nate Diaz, with the pair of brothers being one of the biggest influences in the sport of MMA.
A soccer kick, also known as a soccer ball kick or PK in puroresu and shoot fighting, and as tiro de meta in vale tudo, is a reference to a kick that is similar to kicks used in association football. It is the colloquial term for a kick performed against a prone, kneeling, rising or supine opponent by a fighter who is in a standing or semi-standing position, to any part of a downed opponent. The technique is banned under the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts; however, other rulesets, including the ones used by Pride Fighting Championships do permit them. Soccer kicks have been regularly discussed as to potential damage. There has been a regular debate on the usage of them within MMA. Some MMA fans and fighters support them while a fight doctor and politicians have opposed them.
Mixed martial arts weight classes are weight classes that pertain to the sport of mixed martial arts.
Travis Jon Fulton was an American mixed martial artist and a professional boxer in the heavyweight division of both sports. Known as a longtime veteran in mixed martial arts, he competed in over 300 sanctioned bouts and while he was perhaps best known for competing in smaller US-based promotions, he also competed in the UFC, the USWF, the WEC, Pancrase, M-1 Global, the Chicago Red Bears of the IFL, King of the Cage, RINGS, and Oktagon MMA. He also holds the record for the most sanctioned mixed martial arts bouts, with 320 bouts; in addition to that, he also holds the most wins in mixed martial arts history (255).
Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko is a Russian former heavyweight mixed martial artist (MMA), sambist, and judoka. He has won championships and accolades in multiple sports, most notably in MMA Pride Fighting Championships, FIAS World Combat Sambo Championship, and Russian Judo Federation National Championship. He also competed for Rizin Fighting Federation and Bellator MMA.
Mixed martial arts (MMA) in Ontario had been considered illegal until August 14, 2010, when the Ontario government announced that they would be moving forward to allow professional mixed martial arts in the province. This was seen as a sudden change in direction as the government has been reluctant to allow MMA events to be held. This paved the way for the largest regulated professional MMA event, UFC 129, which was held on April 30, 2011 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.
Khabib Abdulmanapovich Nurmagomedov is a Russian retired professional mixed martial artist. He competed in the lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he was the longest-reigning UFC Lightweight Champion ever, having held the title from April 2018 to March 2021. With 29 wins and no losses, he retired with an undefeated record. Nurmagomedov is widely considered to be among the greatest mixed martial artists of all time, and was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame on June 30, 2022.
CV Productions, Inc., is a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based mixed martial arts company, founded in 1979. It is considered the first MMA based company in the United States and responsible for creating the blueprint for modern mixed martial arts competition. The company promoted the first regulated league of mixed martial arts style competitions beginning in 1980 with the intention of creating a new mainstream sport. The league events pitted combatants from all fighting disciplines including boxers, kick boxers, martial artists, wrestlers, grapplers, and all around “tough guys.” Competitors could win by opponent’s submission, knockout or judges' decision. The competitions were promoted as “Anything Goes - striking, throwing, grappling, punching, kicking, ground fighting, and more.” The shows were immediately dubbed by the media as “Organized, Legalized, Street Fighting,” a phrase coined by KDKA TV's Dave Durian.
Australian Fighting Championship (AFC) is an Australian mixed martial arts (MMA) organisation based in Melbourne. In 2013 AFC was described as Australia's leading MMA organisation by MMA Kanvas and is part of Sherdog's list of top 50 global MMA organisations (2014). Since AFC 4, all events have been successfully streamed live via pay-per-view.
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, Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos, Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate, Holly Holm 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.
The Tough Guy Contest, founded in 1979 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by CV Productions, Inc., introduced regulated mixed martial arts competition in the United States and established the first MMA league.
Mixed martial arts has been legal in Japan since at least the 1980s, Pancrase began to be held.
In 2016, New York became the 50th U.S. state to legalize and regulate mixed martial arts (MMA), after the sport had been banned in the state in 1997. The New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) oversees mixed martial arts contests in the state.
Probably the dullest event in sports history, it was watched by millions over closed-circuit television as well as by suckers in Tokyo who forked over $1,000 per ringside seat.
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