The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA promotion in the world as of 2023. It produces events worldwide that showcase 11 weight divisions and abides by the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. As of 2022, it had held over 600 events. Dana White has been its president since 2001 and CEO since 2023. Under White's stewardship, it has grown into a global multi-billion-dollar enterprise.
Jacob Christopher "Tito" Ortiz is a retired American mixed martial artist and a former politician. Ortiz is best known for his stints with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former Light Heavyweight Champion, having held the title from April 14, 2000, to September 26, 2003. Along with fighters like Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell, he was one of the sport's early stars. Ortiz ultimately became the biggest pay-per-view draw of 2006 for his fights with Liddell, Forrest Griffin, and Ken Shamrock.
Randall Duane Couture is an American mixed martial arts commentator, actor, former United States Army sergeant, former professional mixed martial artist, and former collegiate and Greco-Roman wrestler. During his tenures in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), he became a three-time UFC Heavyweight Champion, two-time UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, an interim UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, making him a six-time UFC Champion and the UFC 13 Heavyweight Tournament winner. He is the first of nine fighters to hold two UFC championship titles in two different divisions. He currently serves as a commentator and analyst for the Professional Fighters League.
Charles David Liddell is an American former professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 1998 to 2018, Liddell is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and is widely credited, along with fellow UFC fighter Randy Couture, with helping bring MMA into the mainstream of American sports and entertainment. Known as "The Iceman", Liddell achieved a 16–7 UFC record, and an overall record of 21–9, with 13 of his wins coming by way of knockout. He retired in late 2010, then came out of retirement for one bout in 2018, in a loss to rival Tito Ortiz. On July 10, 2009, Liddell was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
Patrick Jay Miletich is a retired American mixed martial artist and former sports commentator. He is known for his fights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he became the first UFC Welterweight Champion and UFC 16 Welterweight Tournament Winner. Miletich is also known as a highly successful trainer and coach, having founded Miletich Fighting Systems. This camp is considered one of the most successful in MMA history and has produced several world champions. On July 6, 2014, he was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
Matthew Allen Hughes is an American retired mixed martial artist with a background in wrestling. Widely considered among the greatest fighters in the history of MMA, he is a former two-time UFC Welterweight Champion, UFC Hall of Fame inductee, and NJCAA Hall of Fame inductee. During his tenures in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Hughes put together two six-fight winning streaks defeating all of the available opposition in the welterweight division. In May 2010, Hughes became the eighth inductee into the UFC Hall of Fame.
Richard Jay Franklin II is an American businessman and retired mixed martial artist. He is best known for competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he is a member of the UFC Hall of Fame and a former UFC Middleweight Champion. Franklin has been the Vice President of Singaporean combat sports promotion ONE Championship since May 2014. Rich attended William Henry Harrison High School in the city of Harrison, Ohio and was a mathematics teacher at Oak Hills High School in Bridgetown, Ohio before turning professional in MMA.
Georges St-Pierre, also known by his initials GSP, is a Canadian actor and former professional mixed martial artist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest fighters in mixed martial arts (MMA) history. St-Pierre was a two-division champion in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), having won titles in the welterweight and middleweight divisions.
Matt Serra is an American former professional mixed martial artist and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. He is a former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) competitor and a former UFC Welterweight Champion. He is the co-star of Dana White: Lookin' for a Fight and co-host of the official podcast of the UFC, UFC Unfiltered, alongside Jim Norton.
UFC 57: Liddell vs. Couture 3 was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on February 4, 2006. It was held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada, and broadcast live on pay-per-view in the United States.
UFC 60: Hughes vs. Gracie was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on May 27, 2006. The event took place at the Staples Center, in Los Angeles, California and was broadcast live on pay-per-view in the United States and Canada.
Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar is a duo of fights starting in the finals of The Ultimate Fighter 1 contest which received national acclaim, and was highly regarded among fans as one of the most exciting, greatest and memorable fights in the history of not only the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) but of mixed martial arts (MMA) in general. The bout was voted fight of the year by a poll of over 19,000 readers of the website MMAWeekly.com, and was recognized as the 2005 Shoot Match of the Year by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The fight was credited by Dana White as the "most important fight in UFC history". The fight was also voted the greatest fight in UFC history in 2009.
Frank Trigg is an American retired mixed martial artist, color commentator, pro wrestler, MMA referee and TV host. Trigg is a veteran of the UFC, Pride Fighting Championships, BAMMA, World Fighting Alliance, and has made professional wrestling appearances in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
UFC 56: Full Force was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 19, 2005. It was held at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, broadcast live on pay-per-view in the United States, and later released on DVD.
UFC 65: Bad Intentions was a mixed martial arts competition held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 18, 2006, at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California – the UFC's first show at this venue. It was broadcast live on pay-per-view in the United States and Canada, and was later released on DVD.
The debut season of The Ultimate Fighter premiered on January 17, 2005. Sixteen mixed martial arts fighters were invited to participate in the show where they resided together and trained in two separate teams coached by UFC light heavyweight fighters Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture. The teams competed in physical challenges, segments hosted by singer Willa Ford, to determine which had the right to pair one of their fighters against an opponent of their choice in the same weight class, with the loser being eliminated.
UFC 63: Hughes vs. Penn 2 was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on September 23, 2006. The event took place at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California and was broadcast live on pay-per-view (PPV) in the United States and Canada.
UFC 66: Liddell vs. Ortiz was a mixed martial arts (MMA) pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on December 30, 2006 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada.
UFC 76: Knockout was a mixed martial arts (MMA) pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The event took place on September 22, 2007, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Although the event was advertised with the subtitle Knockout, the entire card produced no knockouts whatsoever.
Randy "The Natural" Couture vs. Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell is a mixed martial arts trilogy. All three fights took place under Ultimate Fighting Championship in the United States. All three fights have ended in knockout and have been for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. At the first meeting at UFC 43, Couture won by technical knockout at 2:40 in the third round. By this victory he won the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. The second time, after The Ultimate Fighter 1, at UFC 52, Liddell won by knockout at 2:06 in the very first round. At the third and final match-up Liddell once again won, making it 2–1 for himself, by KO at 1:28 in the second round.
