The Rise of the MMA
photo by Heloisa Freitas from pexels.com
Since its inception, Mixed Martial Arts—or MMA, as it’s better known—has been a sport of competition and superiority. This rang true in 1993 when a new promotion called the Ultimate Fighting Championship or UFC came onto the scene. Their revolutionary idea to compare fighting styles in a tournament style in their first event, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, later named UFC 1, was something the sporting world had never seen before.
The idea was simple: mixed martial arts was about combining elements of all fighting styles. The UFC held tournaments comparing fighting styles like Brazilan Jiu Jitsu vs boxing, Sumo vs Savate, or shootfighting vs Taekwondo. In theory, it was not proving who the best fighter was, but rather what the superior fighting style was. In the first tournament, taking place in Denver, Colorado, the audience expected the match to be easily won by the boxer—the style most common to Americans at that time. When he lost in the first round of the tournament to Jiu Jitsu legend Royce Gracie, it was surprising. When he later went on to win the open weight tournament as a 145 pound grappler, it was shocking.
This tournament shifted the American narrative that the strongest and harder hitting fighter was not always the better fighter. It provided perspective that boxing was not the most effective style. Since 1993, this case has been repeated hundreds of times in the octagon. But how would a promotion originally trying to prove the best fighting style become a global sporting powerhouse?
“The old school UFC or Pride Rules people were stomping on each other’s heads; it was barbaric. As the rules and sport progressed, you have to become more technical and fighters are constantly having to adapt,” said Ms. Claire “Grizzly” Guthrie, Invicta Fc Bantamweight and the 74th pound-for-pound best contender in the US.
Fights are always exciting to watch. Whether it’s the preliminary bouts before the main card event or title fight happening in the main event. There are quick fights and long fights, ground game displays and standing affairs, but there’s rarely a fight that would be destroyed described as boring. On the topic of how polarizing a fight can be, Ms. Guthrie took the time to quote UFC co-founder Ms. Dana White: “If you take four street corners, and on one they are playing baseball, on another they are playing basketball and on the other, street hockey. On the fourth corner, a fight breaks out. Where does the crowd go?.. They all go to the fight.”
The unity found in other sports is long lost. In the ;20s-’40s baseball unified us as “America’s pastime.” That’s gone now due to the sport largely being filled with the same fans watching year after year as the popularity fades and recent cheating scandals. The ‘60s were filled with fight parties as everyone wanted to watch “The Greatest” do his thing in the squared circle. NBA Finals Games were watched in awe during the ‘90s as families gathered to watch Michael Jordan.
“It competes with every other sport out there… the raw nature of the sport gets the eyes of the public,” Ms. Guthrie said.
Nowadays and into the 2020s, major sporting events will look more like fight fans gathering around the pay-per-view to watch UFC title events. But why more so here than other sports? Fighting styles come from all different corners of the globe and fighters come with them.
Even in the days of the early UFC, stars were coming from Brazil, France, Republic of Congo, you name it. This is even greater now as stars like Israel Adesanya, Yoel Romero, and Connor McGregor continue to popularize the sport in their home countries.
“I think having stars from all over brings more excitement and camaraderie for the fans,” Ms. Guthrie said.
There’s many trials and tribulations coming to the future of MMA. Under the banner of the UFC, the sport has seen a rise in popularity that’s yet to be replicated by any other sport, and with success comes challenges.
MMA creates a constantly changing environment where fighting is done for sport, not a cheap barroom brawl filled with lazy overhand rights and wildly mistimed strikes. Each move is a calculated attack meant to break down the defense of your opponent. Defense is like a wall protecting the user from pain and allow the offense to keep going. When fighting becomes a sport, it’s no longer a game of survival.
“For example, you used to have southpaw or orthodox fighters. Now you have to be able to do both—that was never the case before. Now you have to be able to defend and fight from both stances,” Ms. Guthrie said.
MMA is doing what you can to best win the fight and do so while protecting yourself to the best of your abilities while using elements from styles all around the fighting world. Whether it be grounded Jiu Jitsu or dirty boxing in the clinch, all elements must be present in a fighter's arsenal. MMA’s popularity has skyrocketed in recent years—but its greatest leap is yet to come.