UFC 1

Background

UFC 1 was co-created by Rorion Gracie and the Torrance-based UFC promoter Art Davie, who decided to take locally famous Gracie Garage Challenge fights versus California's martial artists to a new level, televised nationally, with the opponents picked internationally.

They did not come up with a 16-man tournament, as the big-name martial artists, mainly kickboxers, namely Dennis Alexio, Benny Urquidez, Jean-Yves Thériault, Rick Roufus, Stan Longinidis, Maurice Smith, Bart Vale, Hee Il Cho, George Dillman, Gene LeBell, Rob Kaman, Peter Aerts, Ernesto Hoost, Masaaki Satake, were among the others "publicly invited" by Art Davie, but had shown no interest in participating. Davie placed advertisements in martial arts magazines to recruit fighters. He found less than a dozen who answered the call. The promoters came up with an eight-man tournament format, with the winner receiving $50,000.

They wanted it to look brutal on television, so John Milius, one of Rorion Gracie's students and a Hollywood veteran who had directed Conan the Barbarian, decided the fights should take place in an octagonal cage fenced with chain link. Campbell McLaren, a SEG executive, wanted people to consider the championship a live, televised version of Mortal Kombat, a popular fighting video game, in which victorious fighters got to "finish" their opponents through moves such as ripping their spines out of their bodies. That one and the Davie's idea to top the cage with razor wire were rejected.

General regulations agreed upon were:

• No doping probes.
• No holds barred.
• No biting.
• No eye-gouging.
• No mandatory gloves and combative uniform (bare-knuckle contest).
• No judges' scores.
• Unlimited five-minute rounds with one-minute rest period in between. (Changed to no time limits for UFC 2 since no UFC 1 fight lasted five minutes.)
• Knockout, tapout, or corner stoppage (indicated by towel) are the only determination methods. Referee could only halt a match pending the corner decision.

McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, at an elevation above mean sea level of approximately 1 mile, had been chosen because Colorado had no athletic commission and thus no governing body from which they would need to get approval for bare-knuckle fighting.

The major accomplishment though for the promoters was to gather a celebrity commentary team for the event. The commentary team for the pay-per-view was Bill Wallace, Jim Brown, and Kathy Long, with additional analysis from Rod Machado and post-fight interviews by Brian Kilmeade. The ring announcer was Rich Goins.

Jason DeLucia was an alternate for the event, having defeated Trent Jenkins in the alternate bout. However, as no fighter pulled out during the tournament, he was not called upon.

History

The tournament featured fights with no weight classes, rounds, or judges. The three rules – no biting, no eye gouging, and no groin shots – were to be enforced only by a $1,500 fine. The match only ended by submission, knockout, or the fighter's corner throwing in the towel, although the referee stopped the first fight at 26 seconds. Gloves were allowed, as Art Jimmerson showed in his quarterfinal bout against Royce Gracie, which he fought with one boxing glove.

Royce Gracie won the tournament by defeating Gerard Gordeau via submission due to a rear naked choke. The referees for UFC 1 were João Alberto Barreto and Hélio Vigio, two veteran vale tudo referees from Brazil.

Results

''UFC 1'' bracket

||NED Gerard Gordeau (Savate) |TKO|USA Teila Tuli (Sumo) |0:26 ||USA Kevin Rosier (Kickboxing) |TKO|USA Zane Frazier (Kenpo)|4:20 ||BRA Royce Gracie (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) |SUB|USA Art Jimmerson (Boxing) |2:18 ||USA Ken Shamrock (Shootfighting) |SUB|USA Patrick Smith (Taekwondo) |1:49 ||NED Gerard Gordeau |TKO|USA Kevin Rosier |0:59 ||BRA Royce Gracie|SUB|USA Ken Shamrock |0:57 ||NED Gerard Gordeau |1:40|BRA Royce Gracie|SUB |||||

Cultural significance

The event and its outcome catapulted Gracie Jiu-Jitsu (also known as Brazilian jiu-jitsu) to new heights in the United States and worldwide. Its gate and pay-per-view buys ensured that there would be more UFCs in the near future, which proved to be the case.

Encyclopedia awards

The following fighters were honored in the October 2011 book titled UFC Encyclopedia.

• Fight of the Night: Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock
• Knockout of the Night: Gerard Gordeau def. Teila Tuli
• Submission of the Night: Royce Gracie def. Gerard Gordeau

References

References

1. "UFC 1: The Beginning". tapology.com.
2. Walter, Donald F., Jr. [http://www.grapplearts.com/Mixed-Martial-Arts-1.htm Mixed Martial Arts: Ultimate Sport, or Ultimately Illegal?] ''Grapplearts.com.'' December 8, 2003. Retrieved June 2, 2006.
3. Rosenberg, Howard. (November 15, 1993). "Television: Pay-Per-View Battle, Instead of Being Merely Gory and Funny, Gets Interesting After the First Two Bouts". [[The Los Angeles Times]].
4. Sandra E. Kessler. (1 April 1994). "Shotokan, Taekwondo, and Kung Fu challenge Jujutsu". [[Active Interest Media]], Inc..
5. (November 1994). "Promoter Issues Invitation". Black Belt.
6. (August 1994). "Still King of the Hill: Jujutsu Fighter Royce Gracie Tells the World "If You Want Me, Come Get Me!" (An Interview by Sandra E. Kessler)". Black Belt.
7. Merlino, Doug. (2015). "Beast: Blood, Struggle, and Dreams at the Heart of Mixed Martial Arts". Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
8. (12 November 2018). "UFC 1, 25 Years Later: The Story Behind the Event That Started an Industry".
9. (22 December 2012). "MMA Origins: The UFC's Fight for Survival".
10. Joe Rogan Experience MMA Show #26 with Big John McCarthy
11. (9 November 2018). "UFC 1: The Beginning: Playboy, Mortal Kombat and the hunt for an ultimate fighter". BBC Sport.
12. Gerbasi, Thomas. (2011-10-17). "UFC Encyclopedia - The Definitive Guide to the Ultimate Fighting Championship". DK.