It feels weird to think about a world without the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC). But there was a time when people thought exactly the opposite. John McCain actually called the idea of the UFC “human cockfighting” and swore it would never be legalized in the United States. He did his best to try and stop the UFC from ever seeing the light of day. However, it did pass through the legal system and the UFC was born.
Originally, the idea of the UFC was called “War of the Worlds” and it was proposed to figure out which martial arts style would prevail in a minimal rules hand-to-hand contest. The idea was came from the Gracie Brazilian jiu-jitsu family’s video series Gracies in Action where they competed against other martial artists from different styles and disciplines. WOW Promotions and Semaphore Entertainment Group (SEG) produced the first event, later called UFC 1 in Denver, Colorado at the McNichols Sports Arena.
The first ever event was a single-elimination one-night no holds barred tournament featuring fighters from different disciplines. The different disciplines showcased were kickboxing, savage fighting, karate, shootfighting, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, sumo wrestling and boxing. Although it was originally tagged “there are no rules” the UFC did have a limited rule system for the first tournament. There was no eye-gouging, no biting, no rounds and no weight classes. Wanna hit someone right in the nads? No problem. Hair pulling was technically legal, although it was agreed upon by some fighters beforehand to refrain from that.
The contestants were:
Patrick Smith– kickboxing
Kevin Rosier– kickboxing
Gerard Gordeau– savate fighting
Zane Frazier– karate
Ken Shamrock– shootfighting
Teila Tula– sumo wrestler
Art Jimmerson– boxer
Royce Gracie– Brazilian jiu-jitsu
The first ever match in the UFC was between Teila Tula (410 lbs) and Gerard Gordeau (216 lbs). Sumo wrestling was up against savage fighting. Gordeau would go on to win the fight in 26 seconds with a kick to the head of Tula. Tula went for a takedown and fell while Gordeau kicked him in the face, while also knocking some of Tula’s teeth out. At the time, there was no rule about kicking a downed opponent.
Rocye (pronounced Hoyce) Gracie would go on to win the entire competition, absolutely dominating fighters with his submission abilities. Gracie would go on to win the second UFC tournament as well proving the Gracie family’s practice of Brazilian jiu-jitsu to be the most effective style of martial arts in hand-to-hand combat. In the championship bout, Gerard Gordeau allegedly bit Gracie while in one of his submission holds, causing Gracie to get frustrated after successfully beating Gordeau. I mean can you blame him for keeping the submission in for a little longer? The guy had two things he couldn’t do and he does one of them while about to lose. Two things. You could go hit someone right in the Johnson as hard as possible yet he wants to bite. Pretty scummy. Then he wants to get mad that Gracie wouldn’t let go of his submission hold after he tapped out. Maybe don’t bite people and they won’t try to put you to sleep. Just a thought.
Overall, UFC 1: The Beginning made history in a numerous amount of ways. It was made out to be some bloodthirsty event for people that loved violence; and they were partially right. It was extremely violent, and there was some blood. But it was not this satanic ritualistic event people made it seem. It’s entertainment, and in our nature. Disagree? Look at the Roman Coliseum. Violent entertainment is a staple of the world’s history, whether we like it or not. What’s the issue if we decide to sanction it? The UFC disbanded the tournament-style competition at UFC 5, with the introduction of single’s matches. UFC just had their 257th pay-per-view event last January and is the top fighting promotion in the world. The UFC has come a long way since the days of being referred to as a cockfighting bloodsport, and it continues to be of the world’s leaders in sports entertainment.
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