When the UFC started in 1993, it was meant to be a one-time-only fighting competition between the best martial artists in the world. The point was to see which form of martial arts was the ‘superior one.’ This tournament took place on November 12th, 1993.
The event was advertised as having no rules, which was mostly true. There were a few things that were no-go’s for safety reasons such as biting and eye gouging. Yes, these are rules, but they are more like unwritten rules that you’d abide by even in a street fight.
There were no time limits or weight classes. Fights simply went on until someone tapped, was knocked out, or the two said fuck it.
Although competitions of the sort have existed prior to UFC 1, this was next level because of the promotional efforts and incorporation of more fighting styles than ever including: Boxing, Karate, Jiu-Jitsu, Kick Boxing, Shoot Fighting, and Savate.
The first ever UFC match took place between a 300 pound sumo wrestler and a 6 foot 5 Dutch Savate Fighter. Neither of them wore gloves, and the Sumo Wrestler, Teila Tuli, was TKO’s 26 seconds in via a kick to the head while he was down.
The kick to the head was so powerful that Gerard Gordeau wound up with two of Teila Tuli’s teeth stuck in his foot. What did they do about it? They wrapped it up and had him fight the next fight.
The creators of the UFC wanted a ring that was different than what fight fans were used to seeing. Ideas that were bounced around included barbed wire at the top to ensure no escape, the fence being electric, and even having alligators surrounding it. Talk about a fuckin’ spectacle, holy.
When recruiting fighters for the event, they literally just accepted fighters based on what they said their record and skill set was. One fighter, Patrick Smith, claimed to have been 250-0 when he entered the UFC. People who fought in this tournament included restaurant owners, cab drivers, and even a porn star.
The winner of UFC 1 only got $50,000.
Art Jimmerson wore one glove during his UFC 1 match because he was in the running for a big fight in professional boxing and didn’t want to risk damaging his jab hand.
UFC 12 took place on February 7, 1997 and marked the first time Joe Rogan worked with the UFC. It was attended by 3,100 people and bought by another 122,000 on PPV.
UFC 12 also introduced weight classes into the tournament.
In the early days of the UFC, fighters were not tested for banned substances and a lot of the roster was juicing.
Although wrestling is a major part of the UFC nowadays, there was originally no wrestling category in the competition. The creators simply thought that nobody would have any interest in it.
Big John McCarthy was brought into the UFC as a ref at UFC 2. He was told that he could not stop a fight and that a fight was only over when someone was knocked out cold, tapped out, or a had a towel thrown in by their corner.
During a fight between Scott Morris and Patrick Smith, Morris was KO’d during some ground and pound and Smith kept throwing elbows at his face. Morris’ corner refused to throw in the towel and since John couldn’t stop the fight, Smith kept hitting. This could have resulted in the death of Morris had it not been for McCarthy yelling at his corner so loud that Smith had over heard it and assumed the was telling him to stop. Since this fight, the ref has been given the ability to bring a fight to a stop.
Today the UFC is a well oiled machine (depending on who you ask) and remains as the king of MMA companies. However, there is no denying that it was a long, brutal road to get there.
