Today we’re going to talk about Zuffa, which means we’re talking UFC. YAY, no more talking about board shorts, four ounce fingerless gloves, and lists of fouls. Zuffa is the name of the parent company that owns the UFC. But it hasn’t always been that way. Zuffa was created in 2001 by the Fertitta brothers and Dana White, and they bought the UFC for two million dollars. I know, tell me about it. Last time I had two million dollars I pissed it away on crisscrossing the country following Pearl Jam, Phish, and Radiohead. Meanwhile, these Zuffa people turned their two million into a billion dollar company. What a bunch of dicks.
Anyhoooo, let’s take a trip on the wayback machine and watch the creation of the UFC. So, a bunch of amino acids walk into a bar, looking for a fight. No wait, that’s not how it happened, let me try again.
The UFC is simply a mixed martial arts promotion company. The roots of MMA go back to Brazil, and vale tudo. Vale tudo events are full contact, no holds barred fights that came into vogue in the 1920’s in Brazil. The first family of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, the Gracies, has roots in vale tudo competitions. There are approximately 42 billion Gracies on Earth at any given time, and every last one of them is the best in the world at Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (I am being slightly hyperbolic. It’s fun; you should try it some day.). The Gracies fought in vale tudo competitions dating back at least to the 1950’s.
Enter the Gracies
Rorion Gracie is one of the more prominent members of the Gracie family. He is a 9th degree red belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. By last check, that’s pretty damn good. To give you an idea of how good, they don’t give out 10th degree black belts in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. 10th degree red belts are reserved for the men who created the sport.
In 1993, Rorion Gracie founded the UFC. The UFC was created as a platform for the Gracies to introduce BJJ to the world and a grander scale. The first UFC event (now referred to as UFC 1) was a single elimination, eight man tournament. The gimmick was extraordinary; one fighter from each of eight different disciplines fight in a single elimination tournament. The winner received $50,000. The only rules put in place for UFC 1 were that there was to be no eye gouging, and no biting.
The Gracies, wanting to market BJJ to the world, chose Royce Gracie to enter the tournament as the BJJ representative. Part of the reason he was chosen was his slight stature. Weighing only 176 pounds, he was by far the smallest man in the tournament.
A tournament which he won.
Make that dominated.
Royce needed exactly five minutes to win his three matches. His first victory was over boxer Art Jimmerson. Jimmerson was smart. He tapped the moment he hit the ground and was mounted. Apparently he knew what he was in for. Royce’s second victory of the night was over Ken Shamrock (see, there’s another name you know!). Shamrock submitted to a rear naked choke after fifty-two seconds. Royce finished the evening with one more rear naked choke, and just that quickly, a star was born. And just that quickly, BJJ became a star in itself as well.
UFC 1 was a financial success, selling nearly 90,000 pay-per-view buys. However, as the UFC became more visible over the next several years, politicians campaigned aggressively to get the UFC banned, comparing it to ‘human cockfighting’. While the UFC never did get banned from television, most PPV carriers wouldn’t touch it. People forgot about the UFC, it lost its buzz, and pretty much disappeared from public consciousness.
Enter Dana White
In 2001, with the UFC on its last legs, Dana White (heretofore referred to as simply Dana) convinced his childhood friends, and friendly neighborhood multimillionaires, the Fertitta’s to buy the UFC for two million dollars.. Dana got 10% of the company, the Fertitta’s the rest. The first Zuffa event was UFC 30, held on February 23, 2001. UFC 30 drew 3,000 fans, for a live gate of $110,000. The UFC was only available on satellite television.
And so the UFC limped along for four more years. During the Zuffa era, the sport became regulated in America, which went a long way to lending credibility to it. Also helping their cause was the fact that once the UFC lost its initial buzz, the politicians who spoke out against the UFC forgot they existed. As a result, the UFC was able to slowly, very slowly, build a loyal fanbase.
But even being out of the politicians’ cross-hairs and developing a loyal fanbase wasn’t enough for the UFC to survive. Being regulated and treated like a real sport wasn’t enough. To show how far the UFC had come, and how far they still had to go, UFC 51 in February, 2005 did a $1.5 million gate, and they were still on the verge of bankruptcy. The fact of the matter is that by early 2005, the UFC had lost the Fertitta’s a staggering forty million dollars, and Dana was instructed by the Fertitta’s to look for a buyer. Fortunately, they rode out the storm.
Enter The Ultimate Fighter
Zuffa had one last trick up their sleeves. The Ultimate Fighter debuted on January 17, 2005 on Spike TV. This was the first time MMA had ever been regularly featured on cable television. The Ultimate fighter aimed to show the viewing public that the men competing in MMA weren’t just thugs with blood-lust, but were in actuality dedicate athletes who were willing to undergo gigantic sacrifices in order to pursue their dreams. Airing in a coveted time slot right after WWE Raw, The Ultimate Fighter became a hit, at least by cable television standards of the day.
The premise of the show was nothing original. Like most reality shows during that time, sixteen fighters lived in a house together with no televison, internet, or radio. Let the hijinks ensue! And boy howdy did they ever ensue. Season One of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) is a must rent.
But what set TUF apart from other so-called reality shows was that this was in fact a REALITY show. There were eight middleweights (185 lbs) and eight light heavyweights (205 lbs.) split into two different teams. One team coached by Randy Couture; the other by Chuck Liddell. And at the end of almost every episode, two fighters would fight; the winner advanced, the loser went home. At the end of the season, the two remaining middleweights would fight, as would the two remaining light heavyweights. The winners of each fight would be named The Ultimate Fighter, and receive a ‘Six Figure Contract’ from the UFC. Not too shabby. And so it went until they were down to two middleweights and two light heavyweights.
The first season of The Ultimate Fighter culminated (I coulda said climaxed, but then I’d have to giggle) in a night of live fights on Spike. The card featured a main event of Rich Franklin versus Ken Shamrock, and both finales from the reality show. Diego Sanchez defeated Kenny Florian to become crowned the first Ultimate Fighter. And in the main event, Rich Franklin dominated Ken Shamrock. I think I may be forgetting something from that night.
Enter Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar
Oh, there’s that voice again. But thanks for the reminder. Fighting for the light heavyweight title were Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar. You might not realize it, but I can say with a great deal of certainty that the reason you are reading this article, and the reason I am writing it, is solely because of the fight these two put on.
The fight that Bonnar and Griffin had that night is one that will never be forgotten; not tomorrow, not fifty years from now. It has been said that television ratings tripled from the beginning of the fight to the end of the fight. Sure, the fight was a little sloppy, no one is disputing that. But the courage, technique, desire and sheer force of will Bonnar and Griffin is the number one most important reason that the UFC was able to go mainstream.
At the end of the fight, Forrest Griffin had his hand raised, but Stephan Bonnar’s head was held high as well. As Forrest was being awarded his trophy and UFC contract, Dana also extended the same to Bonnar as well. And the rest of the evening, Dana was smiling the smile of the guy who knew his life was going to change for the better.
Enter Everything Else, or whatever. The Enter gimmick is kaput
Never let it be said that I won’t milk a concept, beat it into the ground, and then abandon it in a heartbeat on a whim. From that night, April 9, 2005 through now, the UFC has undergone incredible growth. They are literally the only legitimate major league promotion in the world. The UFC promotes fights in five different weight classes, and has the undisputed best fighter in the world in each class. For more details, parts 5-9 of this series will cover each weight class. There are two widely promoted weight classes that the UFC does not book fights in; featherweight and bantamweight. But before you go all AHA on me and tell me that fact means that the UFC doesn’t in fact have ALL of the best fighters in the world…
Enter the WEC
OK, now the Enter gimmick is dead. Long live the Enter gimmick! WEC stands for World Extreme Cagefighting. The WEC promotes fights at lightweight, featherweight, and bantamweight. The WEC’s lightweight division doesn’t hold a candle to the UFC’s lightweight division, however. The WEC has cornered the worldwide market on featherweights and bantamweights, and it is also owned by Zuffa. That of course means that even if the UFC alone can’t boast the best fighters in EVERY weight class, Zuffa sure as hell can.
This whole article can be tied up really easily. It is Zuffa’s world. And if you’re going to promote MMA anywhere in America, you’d be well advised not to piss off Zuffa.
And that serves as the perfect segue for part 3, Other USA MMA promotions. This won’t be pretty, but I am really good at writing hit pieces.
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