A mix of martial arts dates back to the ancient Olympic Games of 648, when pankration was Greek martial art. Wrestling, boxing and street fights were added to the competitions. The fallen enemy was allowed to kick and beat; only eye massage and cutting is prohibited. The match ended when one of the boxers announced whether he had lost or not. In some cases, competitors were killed during the games.
Pankration:
Pankration became one of the most popular events of the ancient Olympic Games. In 393, the Roman Emperor Theodosius I banned the Olympic Games, which set an end to a popular sport.
Val Todo:
Mix martial Arts was reintroduced in the 20th century in Brazil. Val Todo which means "everything goes'”. MMA was patronized by Carlos and Helio Gracie, who started the Jiu Jitsu School in Rio de Janeiro in 1925. The brothers became famous by the publications of ads in local newspapers, with headlines: “If you want a broken arm, or rib, contact Carlos Gracie.” The sport became so popular that eventually matches were held in full fledged football stadiums.
Ultimate Fighting Championship 1:
MMA began to attract the attention of many North Americans after the Gracie family decided to introduce their Brazilian jiu-jitsu to the United States in the 1990s. Helio’s son Royce Gracie represented the family at a 1993 UFC 1 tournament in Denver, Colorado.
The name implies the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), an organization that has become a leading promoter of MMA events. The main purpose of UFC events was to pit wrestlers and fighters of various forms, such as kickboxers and judoka .Initially, the only rules decreed were, No biting and No eye gouging. Other than that, everything was allowed and bouts ended when one of the fighters was unable to continue or accept defeat.
Royce Gracie emerged as the champion of UFC 1, which was held in a caged ring at Denver’s McNichols Arena. As the UFC’s first cable television pay-per-view event, the tournament attracted 86,000 viewers. That number increased to 300,000 by the third event.
The UFC initially advertised its product as a no-holds-barred sport . The barbaric cage has been dubbed as "brutal human fight" and has infuriated many, including politicians such as US Senator John McCain, who tried to ban the sport.
2001 Revamp:
In 2001 new UFC management created rules to make the sport less dangerous. It added weight classes, rounds, and time limits and extended the list of fouls in the ring. The updated UFC is no longer involved in most fights. New fighters - boxers, boxers and boxers. They became more skilled as fighters and martial arts masters and trained hard to perform well.
Popularity and Later Years
Although the UFC struggled to make money in its early years, it eventually developed into a highly profitable organization. Between 2003 and 2006, a trilogy of fights between two of the sport’s biggest stars, Americans Randy (“the Natural”) Couture and Chuck (“the Iceman”) Liddell, at UFC 43, 52, and 57 helped elevate MMA and the UFC.
