Ultimate Fighting Championship

Ultimate Fighting Championship
legal form	Limited Liability Company
founding	1993
Seat	Las Vegas , Nevada , United States
management	President: Dana White Managing Director (CEO): Emmanuel Okuwonu Regulatory Affairs: Marc Ratner Talent Relations: Joe Silva
Branch	Mixed martial arts
Website	ufc.com

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts organization. It is the world's largest MMA organizer and market leader. The company is owned by Zuffa LLC , a US sports distributor headquartered in Las Vegas , Nevada .

The first event of this association with regulations based on Vale Tudo rules took place on November 12, 1993 in Denver . In 1997 a television contract was signed with Fox Sports Net . In 2005 they switched to Spike , where the breakthrough came with the reality casting show The Ultimate Fighter . Spike continued to broadcast special events called Ultimate Fight Night several times a year . In 2011 the partnership with Spike ended . Since then, the various formats of the UFC have been broadcast on the channels of the US television network FOX . The well-known Ultimate Fight Nights are now being broadcast on Fox Sports 1 .

The main events are broadcast as pay-per-view . The record number of sales was reached on October 6, 2018 at UFC 229 with approximately 2.4 million purchases.

history

Origins

The idea of ​​having different martial arts compete against each other in this case originally goes back to the advertising expert Art Davie, who met Rorion Gracie, who ran a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu school in Torrance, California, during his marketing research on martial arts in 1991 . In 1992 Davie, Rorion and John Milius had the idea for an eight-man knockout tournament under the name War of the Worlds (WOW). Milius, Gracie's student, and a director and screenwriter, agreed to participate in the event. Davie drew up a business plan and signed contracts with 28 investors who provided the seed capital for WOW. The aim was to set up a television program with the tournament.

In May 1993, Semaphore Entertainment Group (SEG), a pay-per-view broadcaster, agreed to partner with WOW after negotiations with industry leaders in this field, HBO and Showtime , failed the previous year. SEG changed the name to The Ultimate Fighting Championship . The two companies first broadcast on November 12, 1993 at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado. Davie was responsible for selecting fighters and setting up the fights. In the first show there were two kickboxers (Patrick Smith and Kevin Rosier), a Savate black belt (Gerard Gordeau), a karate expert (Zane Frasier), a shootfighter / wrestler ( Ken Shamrock ), a sumo wrestler (Teila Tuli), a professional Boxer (Art Jimmerson) and a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt ( Royce Gracie ). The debut was a success with a respectable 86,592 orders for SEG. Royce Gracie, the younger brother of Rorion Gracie, won the tournament and became the first UFC champion. In April 1995 Davie and Gracie sold their shares in SEG and dissolved the WOW league.

Development of the rules

In the early 1990s, the saying “There are no rules!” Was the UFC's motto. But this was not entirely correct because there were some rules. You could neither bite nor stab your opponent in the eye. Head butts, hair pulling and blows to the groin were undesirable, but allowed. At the fourth UFC event, Keith Hackney hit Joe Son's groin several times. Hence the negative public perception that the UFC was very brutal and an underground sport.

The brutal nature of the nascent sport quickly drew regulators' attention, with the result that UFC events were banned in some states in the United States. In Germany , too , the sport had to struggle with resistance, so that the small German MMA scene moved to the European region. After fierce criticism and letter campaigns under the leadership of US Senator John McCain , the UFC's events were taken out of the program by the largest pay-per-view supplier in the USA, Viewer's Choice, and some smaller providers such as TCI Cable. McCain also asked the governors of all 50 US states to ban UFC. 36 states followed this call and had the UFC banned. However, the UFC continued to broadcast on the pay-TV satellite provider DirecTV , although the number of viewers was comparatively small. This period is referred to by many fans as the "dark days".

The UFC cooperated with state sports commissions in order to be able to continue running the company successfully. The rules have been expanded to put the fighter at a lower risk of injury. The core elements of hitting and gripping were retained, however. With UFC 12, weight classes were added. At UFC 14, gloves with knuckle pads (to reduce cuts ) and open fingers (to enable grips) became mandatory. As of UFC 15, the rules prohibited numerous dangerous techniques. These included head butts, low blows , direct blows to the back of the head or neck, kicks to the head of an opponent lying on the ground, grips of small joints (e.g. fingers), direct blows to specific pressure points (e.g. the solar plexus ) and hair pull. Finally, with the introduction of 5-minute rounds at UFC 21, the reputation of a sport was slowly restored.

The UFC began to work more closely with local sports regulators, and on September 30, 2000, the first officially regulated UFC event was held in New Jersey . Two months later, the so-called Unified Rules (German translation: Uniform Rules) were used for the first time in New Jersey, on which the UFC has been oriented since then. McCain's opinion had also changed, as he said in an interview: “The sport has grown up. The rules have been adopted to give its athletes better protections and to ensure fairer competition.” (German translation: The sport has grown up. Rules were introduced to better protect athletes and ensure fairer competition).

Purchase through Zuffa

After UFC had almost become insolvent, the two casino operators Frank and Lorenzo Fertita and boxing promoter Dana White approached the UFC with an offer to buy. In January 2001, the Fertitta brothers bought the UFC for $ 2 million and founded Zuffa LLC , which was the controlling parent company for the UFC. In addition, mixed martial arts , which became the umbrella term for the various fighting techniques used by UFC athletes, could also be regulated in Nevada, paving the way for them to appear again on Pay-Per-View (PPV) television.

The UFC was slowly but steadily gaining popularity, on the one hand through effective advertising campaigns, but also through various sponsors. Events took place in larger arenas again, such as the Trump Taj Mahal and the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas . And the pay-per-view orders were back to the same level as before the 1997 crisis. In addition, a television contract was signed with Fox Sports Net , which broadcast the best fights every week. At the UFC 40 event, in which there was a fight between Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock , 150,000 PPV purchases were made for the first time. Shamrock was one of the few active players to join the UFC from the start. Despite the success, Zuffa had lost $ 34 million by 2004.

Mainstream rise

The increasing numbers of viewers, fans and fighters can be justified with the power of the mass media . After seeing the success of the reality TV show American Casinos, the Fertitta brothers decided to give the UFC their own reality show. This should be a show where talented fighters waiting to break through have a chance to win a UFC contract. Some US broadcasters rejected this idea until they approached Spike TV and offered to pay the production costs of 10 million US dollars themselves. Since January 2005, eleven seasons of this show have taken place. The first national success was achieved with the finale of the first season. The show achieved a rating of 1.9, which corresponds to an average viewer number of 2.6 million.

After the success of The Ultimate Fighter , Spike TV decided to broadcast more UFC formats. These include the weekly UFC Unleashed Show , which features the best fights in UFC history, as well as all-access broadcasts that provide a look at the fighters and their training prior to major events. With the success of the television programs, the pay-per-view business also made significant improvements. The first major event after the Ultimate Fighter Show had 280,000 orders, almost twice as many as the previous record of 150,000. And so it was able to attract a lot of new fans in 2005 and 2006, until the UFC 66 event reached the record number of 1,050,000. In 2006, the UFC also posted a higher total pay-per-view profit than the WWE and Boxing at $ 222,766,000.

The UFC made it to the front pages of Sports Illustrated and ESPN The Magazine with its fighters and is broadcast in 36 countries. In March 2007, Zuffa bought the only international competitor Pride FC to date . Many former Pride fighters have been active in the UFC since then. The UFC was also able to conclude advertising contracts with Harley-Davidson and Anheuser-Busch in 2008 .

With the UFC 100 event and the main fight between Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir in the unification fight for the heavyweight title, the UFC took the next step in its development. The event generated 1.6 million pay-per-view purchases and widespread coverage in the mainstream media. The US broadcaster ESPN expanded its coverage of the event massively. With UFC 114 and the fight between Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson , the UFC first launched an event in which two African Americans faced each other in the main battle . The UFC sold 55,000 tickets for the UFC 129 event , which was held at the Rogers Center in Toronto Canada and in which Georges St. Pierre and Jake Shields met in the main battle , generating revenues of 11 million US dollars. This represented a record of both ticket sales and ticket revenue for MMA events in North America .

Takeover of the WEC

As of January 2011, the previously independent WEC (World Extreme Cagefighting) , also Zuffa LLC , will be officially incorporated into the UFC in order to present the weight classes featherweight and bantamweight to a wider public, because the UFC has a higher audience. This decision was welcomed both by managers and by the respective fighters. The current WEC title holders have now become official UFC title holders in the corresponding newly introduced weight classes.

Purchase of Strikeforce

On March 12, 2011, UFC President Dana White announced in an interview that Zuffa LLC had taken over the MMA organization Strikeforce . However, Dana White made it clear that Strikeforce would continue to operate independently of the UFC. However, a short time later, well-known fighters and titleholders switched from Strikeforce to the UFC. The Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz , the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Dan Henderson and the Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem signed contracts with the UFC.

In December 2011, Zuffa LLC announced that Strikeforce would continue to exist in 2012, but that Strikeforce's heavyweight division would be closed. At the end of 2012, it became public that Strikeforce would be closed in 2013. In January 2013 Strikeforce was integrated into the UFC and a large number of fighters switched to the UFC. Among them were well-known fighters such as Daniel Cormier , Nate Marquardt and Gilbert Melendez .

Partnership with FOX

On August 18, 2011, the UFC and the US television network FOX announced that the two companies had signed a seven-year contract to cover UFC events. The UFC will continue to maintain control of the production of the events and will continue to use commentators Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg as usual . The newly concluded contract with FOX ends the previous partnerships between the UFC and the TV channels Spike and Versus.

The first event UFC on Fox , at which only the main fight between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos was broadcast, had a peak of 8.8 million viewers. The event saw an average of 5.7 million viewers, making the event the most-watched MMA broadcast of all time.

Partnership with ESPN

In 2018, the UFC entered into a 5-year partnership with the established US sports network ESPN . The greater reach among fans of other sports also helps to further popularize the sport of MMA . The deal brings the UFC an annual $ 150 million.

Women in the UFC

In November 2012 it was announced that Ronda Rousey became the first woman to be signed by the UFC. The first fight between two women took place on February 23, 2013 at UFC 157, at which point Rousey was already officially the UFC title holder. Since then, several women have been under contract with the UFC, where they also fight regularly.

Expansion to Germany

Shows have been held regularly in the UK since 2007 . Der Spiegel reported in the 48/2008 issue that the UFC will probably hold an event in Germany in mid-June 2009. UFC 99 took place on June 13, 2009 in the Lanxess Arena in Cologne .

In addition, the UFC was in negotiations with the television stations ProSieben and DMAX , with reports at the beginning of December that ProSieben was not interested in the UFC. Finally, DSF secured the UFC broadcasting rights in Germany.

On March 18, 2010, the television committee of the Bavarian State Office for New Media (BLM) banned the broadcast. The BLM criticizes “breaking taboos, such as hitting an opponent lying on the ground”. The UFC then announced on March 25, 2010, after an unsuccessful conversation with the BLM, a lawsuit against the TV ban.

Despite the TV ban, the UFC announced a return to Germany. UFC 122 took place on November 13, 2010 in the König-Pilsener-Arena in Oberhausen. At the press conference, Dana White, President of the UFC announced that the UFC will continue to expand into Germany.

The last UFC event in Germany took place on September 3, 2016 in the Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg.

regulate

Mixed martial arts is regulated by the authorities in many US states. Licenses are issued and events must be registered. Independent drug tests are also carried out. There is even a dress code.

The rules have been changed and adapted over and over again as the sport has developed. The current rules were drawn up by the New Jersey Athletic Control Board as “Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts” and are accepted by many other US states and organizers.

Round

One lap lasts five minutes, the lap break is one minute. Basically, a fight goes over three rounds, title fights over five. UFC boss Dana White announced that all major fights that are newly signed will also go over five rounds.

Weight classes

The UFC currently uses nine different weight classes :

• Strawweight: (straw or straw weight) up to 115 lb (52.15 kg)
• Flyweight: 125 and less lb (57 and less kg)
• Bantamweight: 126 to 135 lb (57 to 61 kg)
• Featherweight: 136 to 145 lb (61 to 66 kg)
• Lightweight: 145 to 155 lb (66 to 70 kg)
• Welterweight: 155 to 170 lb (70 to 77 kg)
• Middleweight: 170 to 185 lb (77 to 84 kg)
• Light Heavyweight: 185 to 205 lb (84 to 93 kg)
• Heavyweight: 205 to 265 lb (93 to 120 kg)

Weight classes currently unused

• Super Heavyweight: over 265 lb (over 120 kg)

Cage

UFC octagon

The ring according to UFC regulations has the shape of an octagon ( octagon ) with a diameter of 9.75 m. Instead of ring ropes, the fighting area is limited by a chain link fence . The fence is designed to protect the fighters from falling off the fighting area. In addition, it opens up further tactical possibilities, as you can lean on it (in clinch and ground combat) - but the fighters are not allowed to hold on to it. Originally, the shape should have been chosen so that you can't hide in a corner. The cage is also intended to emphasize the inevitability of combat.

The ring mat is a hard surface and, compared to a wrestling ring, is not intended to cushion the impact.

Originally, the UFC had sole rights to use a cage of this shape. However, since 2001 the rights have been released and since then many other organizations have also used this form of the ring.

dress

It is fought with thin gloves open to the fingers. They serve to protect the hands and avoid cuts, but they hardly offer any cushioning. This should come as close as possible to the bare hand. In contrast to the boxing glove, they allow you to grip and perform all types of punches. With the large, chunky boxing gloves, the cover work and the penetration of the same change, and in ground combat and clinch it would be much more difficult to fixate the opposing hands.

The only other garments allowed are trousers to the knee. These must be approved by the Commission.

Shoes, t-shirts, long pants or a gi are not allowed. This is to protect the fighters (for example you could try to choke your opponent by pulling on the shirt). Before the Unified Rules were introduced, fighters were allowed to choose their own outfit and the multiple tournament winner Royce Gracie fought all of his UFC fights in a Gi (except for UFC 60 - Gracie vs. Hughes) .

End of fight

A battle can be won in several ways:

• Task of the opponent :
  • A fighter claps the mat with the flat of his hand several times, taps his opponent several times or gives up verbally.
• Knockout :
  • A fighter is controlled by a (rule-oriented) punch or kick fainted . A knockout is only considered to have occurred when this is officially determined by the referee. Even an opponent lying on the ground - possibly unconscious and in any case no longer able to resist - may continue to be attacked as long as the referee has not declared the fight to be over.
• Technical knockout :
  • A fighter is so badly injured by a (legal) attack that he can no longer continue the fight. Only the referee may stop a fight prematurely. He can take into account recommendations of the ring doctor or the referee committee at his own discretion. A task by a trainer or supervisor of a fighter ("throwing in the towel") is not intended.
• Referee decision :
  • If there is no winner after 3 or 5 rounds, the decision lies with the three judges. Similar to classic boxing, each referee awards 10 points to the winner of a round and 9 or less to the loser, based on impact hits and rainfall and the superiority in the ground fight. In contrast to boxing, the referees do not have to decide on a winner in each round - if a referee is of the opinion that there was no winner in a round, he can give both fighters 10 points.
• Disqualification of the opponent:
  • If a fighter is so badly injured by a deliberate illegal attack by his opponent that he cannot continue the fight, the referee can disqualify the opponent and declare the injured fighter the winner.

• Forfeit (non-appearance of the opponent)

A match can end in a draw if an accidental foul results in an injury so severe that the fight cannot continue, or if both fighters commit a serious foul at the same time.

Fouls

The following fouls are currently set:

Head butts any attack on the eyes Bite pull hair Finger hooking (e.g. in the corners of the mouth) Low blows Insertion of fingers into body orifices / injuries Handles on small joints (e.g. fingers) Beats to the back of the head or spine Downward blows with the tip of the elbow (12-6 elbows) Strikes on the neck and trachea pressure Scratching, pinching, or twisting the skin Holding the collarbone Kicks on the head of an enemy lying on the ground Kneeling on the head of an opponent lying on the ground

The kicking / stamping of an opponent lying on the ground Heel kicks on the kidney Throwing the opponent on the head or neck (see Piledriver ) Throwing the opponent out of the ring or the fenced area Holding onto the opponent's pants or gloves Spit on Unsportsmanlike conduct that results in injury Holding on to the ropes or the fence Insults inside the ring / fence Attacks during the break Attacks on opponents under the care of the referee Attacks after ringing the ring bell Failure to observe the referee's decisions Cowardice B. Avoiding contact with the opponent Foreign intervention

In the event of a foul, the referees may award one or more penalty points at their own discretion. If a foul incapacitates a fighter, the fight can end in disqualification if the rules are deliberately violated. In the case of unintentional fouls, the fight can be canceled and declared void. If a foul means that a fighter can no longer finish the round, the fight ends with a technical victory in favor of the injured person if he is ahead on points, otherwise there is a technical draw. Furthermore, the referee can give the fouled fighter a regeneration time of up to five minutes. In situations in which none of the fighters tries to work out a better position or to land hits, the fight is set back and continued while standing with the fighters spaced apart. In the event of interruptions by the referee to have a wound examined by the ring doctor, the same position as before the interruption is resumed.

Title holder

Current title holders

The title holders of the different weight classes:

Men's

Weight class	Current title holder	Days	Date event	place	Defenses
Flyweight	Deiveson Figueiredo
Bantamweight	Petr Yan
Featherweight	Alexander Volkanovski	257	December 14, 2019 UFC 245: Usman vs. Covington	Paradise , Nevada	1
lightweight	Khabib Nurmagomedov	873	April 7, 2018 UFC 223: Khabib vs. Iaquinta	Brooklyn , New York	2
Welterweight	Kamaru Usman	544	March 2, 2019 UFC 235: Jones vs. Smith	Paradise , Nevada	1
medium weight	Israel Adesanya	326	October 6, 2019 UFC 243: Whittaker vs. Adesanya	Melbourne , Victoria	1
Light heavyweight	Vacant	607	December 29, 2018 UFC 232: Jones vs. Gustafsson 2	Inglewood , California	3
Heavyweight	Stipe Miocic	376	August 17, 2019 UFC 241: Cormier vs. Miocic 2	Anaheim , California	0

Ladies

Weight class	Current title holder	Days	Date event	place	Defenses
Flyweight	Valentina Shevchenko	628	December 8, 2018 UFC 231 : Holloway vs. Ortega	Toronto , Ontario , Canada	30
Straw weight	Zhang Weili	362	August 31, 2019 UFC Fight Night: Andrade vs. Zhang	Shenzhen , People's Republic of China	10
Bantamweight	Amanda Nunes	1510	July 9, 2016 UFC 200: Tate vs. Nunes	Las Vegas , Nevada	05
Featherweight	Amanda Nunes	607	December 29, 2018 UFC 232: Jones vs. Gustafsson 2	Inglewood , California	01

Former title holders

Hall of Fame

The most outstanding UFC fighters are inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame at irregular intervals. The only non-fighter is Charles "Mask" Lewis Jr., founder of the TapOut clothing brand .

• Royce Gracie : November 21, 2003 (UFC 45)
• Ken Shamrock : November 21, 2003 (UFC 45)
• Dan Severn : April 16, 2005 (UFC 52)
• Randy Couture : June 24, 2006 (TUF 3 finals)
• Mark Coleman : March 1, 2008 (UFC 82)
• Chuck Liddell : July 10, 2009 (UFC FanExpo)
• Charles "Mask" Lewis Jr .: July 10, 2009 (UFC FanExpo)
• Matt Hughes : May 28, 2010 (UFC FanExpo)
• Tito Ortiz : July 7, 2012 (UFC 148)
• Forrest Griffin : July 6, 2013 (UFC 162)
• Stephan Bonnar : July 6, 2013 (UFC 162)
• Pat Miletich : July 6, 2014 (UFC FanExpo)

The Ultimate Fighter

The Ultimate Fighter is a UFC reality casting show that has aired 14 seasons on Spike since 2005 . In the show, 16 professional fighters who have not yet made their breakthrough are split into two teams and compete in a tournament for a UFC contract. The two teams are led by two coaches who fight against each other at the end of each season. At the end of each episode there is a fight, the loser of which is eliminated. After the first eight fights, the quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final take place, in which, however, it is no longer guaranteed that fighters from two different teams have to compete against each other.

The show shows the daily training as well as scenes from the common life of the fighters.

Coaches and winners

The Ultimate Fighter US

• Season 1: Coaches: Randy Couture , Chuck Liddell ; Winner: Diego Sanchez (middleweight), Forrest Griffin (light heavyweight)
• Season 2: Coaches: Matt Hughes , Rich Franklin ; Winner: Joe Stevenson (welterweight), Rashad Evans (heavyweight)
• Season 3: Coaches: Tito Ortiz , Ken Shamrock ; Winner: Kendall Grove (middleweight), Michael Bisping (light heavyweight)
• Season 4: Coaches: various; Winner: Matt Serra (welterweight), Travis Lutter (middleweight)
• Season 5: Coaches: BJ Penn , Jens Pulver ; Winner: Nate Diaz (lightweight)
• Season 6: Coaches: Matt Serra, Matt Hughes ; Winner: Mac Danzig (welterweight)
• Season 7: Coaches: Quinton Jackson , Forrest Griffin; Winner: Amir Sadollah (middleweight)
• Season 8: Coaches: Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira , Frank Mir ; Winner: Efrain Escudero (lightweight), Ryan Bader (light heavyweight)
• Season 9: Coaches: Dan Henderson , Michael Bisping; Winner: James Wilks (welterweight), Ross Pearson (lightweight)
• Season 10: Coaches: Quinton Jackson, Rashad Evans; Winner: Roy Nelson (heavyweight)
• Season 11: Coaches: Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz; Winner: Court McGee (middleweight)
• Season 12: Coaches: Georges St. Pierre , Josh Koscheck , Winner: Jonathan Brookins (lightweight)
• Season 13: Coaches: Brock Lesnar , Junior dos Santos , Winner: Tony Ferguson (welterweight)
• Season 14: Coaches: Michael Bisping , Jason Miller , Winner: Diego Brandao , (featherweight) John Dodson (bantamweight)
• Season 15: Coaches: Dominick Cruz , Urijah Faber , Winner: Michael Chiesa (lightweight)
• Season 16: Coaches: Shane Carwin , Roy Nelson , winner: Colton Smith
• Season 17: Coaches: Jon Jones , Chael Sonnen , Winner: Kelvin Gastelum
• Season 18: Coaches: Ronda Rousey , Miesha Tate , Winners: Chris Holdsworth , Julianna Peña

The Ultimate Fighter Brazil

• Season 1: Coaches: Vitor Belfort , Wanderlei Silva , winners: Cezar Ferreira (middleweight), Rony Mariano Bezerra (featherweight)

multimedia

music

• UFC: Ultimate Beat Downs, Vol. 1 (2004)

Video games

• Ultimate Fighting Championship (Dreamcast, PlayStation, Game Boy Color)
• UFC: Tapout (Xbox)
• UFC: Throwdown (PlayStation 2, GameCube)
• UFC: Sudden Impact (PlayStation 2)
• UFC: Tapout 2 (PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox)
• UFC: 2009 Undisputed (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)
• UFC: 2010 Undisputed (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation Portable)
• UFC: Personal Trainer: The Ultimate Fitness System (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii)
• UFC: Undisputed 3 (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)
• UFC: EA SPORTS UFC (PlayStation 4, Xbox One)
• UFC: EA SPORTS UFC 2 (PlayStation 4, Xbox One)
• UFC: EA SPORTS UFC 3 (PlayStation 4, Xbox One)

Since January 2007, the game publisher THQ held the exclusive rights to produce games from UFC, but at the press conference of the E3 game fair it was announced that the rights would go to EA Sports in March 2013 as THQ had sold the rights to Electronic Arts.

literature

• Gladiator behind wire mesh . In: Der Spiegel . No. 48 , 2008 ( online ).

See also

• List of UFC champions

Web links

• official homepage
• Sherdog.com
• "Ultimate fighting. Urfaust ” , Süddeutsche Zeitung , November 29, 2008

Individual evidence

1. ^ "Spike TV Says Goodbye to the UFC" on mmafighting.com on August 18, 2011
2. ↑ ^{a b c} "UFC and FOX Officially Announce Details of Landmark 7-Year Broadcast Deal" on mmafighting.com on August 18, 2011
3. ↑ "For Fox Sports 1 debut, UFC calls on Sonnen" on usatoday.com on August 14, 2013
4. ↑ ^{a b} "How much MMA is too much?" on sports.yahoo.com as of August 31, 2009
5. ^ Pay Per View Buys. In: Tapology. Retrieved December 11, 2019 . 
6. ^ "Major ESPN Executive Attends UFC 100 as a Guest of Dana White" on bloodyelbow.com on July 24, 2009
7. ↑ "'Rampage' Jackson, Rashad Evans and Politics of Race in MMA" on mmafighting.com on May 25, 2011
8. ↑ "UFC 129 St-Pierre vs. Shields" on ufc.com on April 30, 2011
9. ↑ ^{a b} "UFC 129 Sold Out, Shatters Records With 55,000 Tickets" on mmaweekly.com on February 12, 2011
10. ↑ ^{a b} "UFC 129 Gate Receipts Total $ 11 Million, Eclipse Record" on mmaweekly.com on February 15, 2011
11. ↑ UFC swallows WEC on groundandpound.de
12. ^ "Zuffa Purchases Strikeforce" on mmafighting.com on March 12, 2011
13. ↑ "Nick Diaz Vacates Belt to Face GSP at UFC 137" on mmaweekly.com on June 9, 2011
14. ↑ "Shogun Rua Tabbed to Welcome Dan Henderson Back at UFC 139" on mmaweekly.com on September 19, 2011
15. ^ "Alistair Overeem Calls Signing With UFC 'One of the Biggest Days in My Life" on mmafighting.com on September 6, 2011
16. ^ "Strikeforce and Showtime reach new deal for 2012" on ufc.com on December 15, 2011
17. ^ "Full Card Announced for Final Strikeforce Event on Showtime" . on strikeforce.com. on December 20, 2012
18. ^ After grand MMA opening, Strikeforce will turn out the lights Saturday night. on mmafighting.com on January 10, 2013.
19. ↑ "UFC Reveals List of Strikeforce Fighters Making Jump to Octagon" on sherdog.com. on January 16, 2013
20. ↑ "Velasquez vs. Dos Santos" on ufc.com on November 12, 2011
21. ↑ "Velasquez-Dos Santos will be lone fight on UFC on FOX 1, regardless of length" ( Memento from November 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) on mma.junkie on November 2, 2011
22. ↑ "UFC On Fox peaks at 8.8 million viewers" ( Memento of the original from December 21, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on si.com on November 16, 2011 
23. ↑ Alexander Petzel-Gligorea: UFC signs streaming contract with ESPN. In: GNP1. Retrieved December 11, 2019 . 
24. ↑ "Ronda Rousey signs landmark deal" on espn.com on November 16, 2012
25. ^ "Ronda Rousey wins first ever women's UFC fight, submitting Liz Carmouche for bantamweight title" on foxsports.com on February 24, 2013
26. ↑ "Fighter Listing" on ufc.com
27. ↑ UFC press release on UFC 99 ( memento of March 7, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) on groundandpound.de
28. ^ "ProSieben is not interested" ( Memento from December 3, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) on groundapound.de from December 1, 2008
29. ↑ Violence and blood in martial arts TV: DSF has to cancel Ultimate Fighting shows ( memento of the original from March 22, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
30. ^ Schnittberichte.com: UFC wants to sue the TV ban Access on March 26, 2010.
31. ↑ [1] , reporting UFC 122
32. ↑ [2] , final press conference UFC 122
33. ↑ UFC RULES on ufc.com
34. ↑ ufc.ca/rankings , official website. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
35. ↑ [3]
36. ↑ ultimatefighter.com - All Seasons of TUF
37. ↑ "Mike Chiesa already setting goals for UFC career after winning TUF 15 crown" on sherdog.com on October 17th, 2012
38. ↑ TUF Brazil 3 is over, when will the coaches fight ?! ( Memento of the original from June 15, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
39. ^ "Vitor Belfort and Wanderlei Silva will coach the first season of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil" on ufc.com on December 13, 2011
40. ↑ "UFC 147 results: Cezar 'Mutante' Ferreira wins 'TUF: Brazil' middleweight tourney" ( Memento from June 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive )