UFC

 

UFC Full Name Ultimate Fighting Championship .The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada, which is owned and operated by Endeavor Group Holdings along with Silver Lake Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. and MSD Capital via Zuffa, LLC.It is the largest MMA promotion company in the world and features some of the highest-level fighters in the sport on its roster.The UFC produces events worldwide that showcase twelve weight divisions (eight men's divisions and four women's divisions) and abides by the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts.As of 2020, the UFC has held over 500 events. Dana White has been UFC president since 2001. Under White's stewardship, the UFC has grown into a globally popular multi-billion-dollar enterprise.

The first event was held in 1993 at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado. 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, Kickboxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Sambo, Wrestling, Muay Thai, Karate, Taekwondo, 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. [9] 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 for US $ 4.025 billion.

With a TV deal and expansion in Australia, Asia, Europe, 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, and its next domestic media rights agreement with ESPN was valued at $ 1.5 billion over a five-year term.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Mixed martial arts  promotion
Founded	1993 ; 27 years ago
Founders	Art Davie Bob Meyrowitz Campbell McLaren David Isaacs John Milius Rorion Gracie
Headquarters	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Key people	Dana White
Owner	Endeavor Silver Lake Partners Kohlberg Kravis Roberts MSD Capital (via Zuffa, LLC )
Website	http://www.ufc.com

Men's championship history

Heavyweight Championship

The UFC  Superfight Championship  was unified with the UFC  Tournament Championship  to determine the inaugural UFC Heavyweight Champion on February 7, 1997, when  Mark Coleman  defeated  Dan Severn.

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign (total)	Defenses
1	Mark Coleman def. Dan Severn	UFC 12 Dothan, AL, US	Feb 7, 1997	170 days
2	Maurice Smith	UFC 14 Birmingham, AL, US	Jul 27, 1997	147 days	1. def. Tank Abbott at UFC 15 on Oct 17, 1997
3	Randy Couture	UFC Japan Yokohama, Japan	Dec 21, 1997	? days

Couture was stripped of the title in January 1998, when he left the UFC due to a contract dispute.

4	Bas Rutten def. Kevin Randleman	UFC 20 Birmingham, AL, US	May 7, 1999	? days