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The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada, which is owned and operated by parent company William Morris Endeavor.[3][4] It is the largest MMA promotion company in the world and features on its roster the highest-level fighters in the sport.[5] The UFC produces events worldwide[6] that showcase twelve weight divisions and abides by the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts.[7] As of 2019, the UFC has held over 500 events. Dana White is the president of the UFC. White has held that position since 2001; while under his stewardship, the UFC has grown into a globally popular multi-billion-dollar enterprise.[8]
The first event was held in 1993 at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado.[9] The purpose of the early Ultimate Fighting Championship competitions was to identify the most effective martial art in a contest with minimal rules and no weight classes between competitors of different fighting disciplines like boxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, sambo, wrestling, Muay Thai, karate, and judo. In subsequent events, fighters began adopting effective techniques from more than one discipline, which indirectly helped create a separate style of fighting known as present-day mixed martial arts.[10] In 2016, UFC's parent company, Zuffa, was sold to a group led by William Morris Endeavor (WME–IMG), including Silver Lake Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and MSD Capital[11] for $4.025 billion.[12]
With a TV deal and expansion in Australia, Asia, Europe,[13][14][15] and new markets within the United States, the UFC has increased in popularity, and has achieved greater mainstream media coverage; the promotion brought in a total revenue of US$609 million in 2015,[16] and its next domestic media rights agreement with ESPN was valued at $1.5 billion over a five-year term.
The first event was held in 1993 at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado.[9] The purpose of the early Ultimate Fighting Championship competitions was to identify the most effective martial art in a contest with minimal rules and no weight classes between competitors of different fighting disciplines like boxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, sambo, wrestling, Muay Thai, karate, and judo. In subsequent events, fighters began adopting effective techniques from more than one discipline, which indirectly helped create a separate style of fighting known as present-day mixed martial arts.[10] In 2016, UFC's parent company, Zuffa, was sold to a group led by William Morris Endeavor (WME–IMG), including Silver Lake Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and MSD Capital[11] for $4.025 billion.[12]
With a TV deal and expansion in Australia, Asia, Europe,[13][14][15] and new markets within the United States, the UFC has increased in popularity, and has achieved greater mainstream media coverage; the promotion brought in a total revenue of US$609 million in 2015,[16] and its next domestic media rights agreement with ESPN was valued at $1.5 billion over a five-year term.