About Mixed Martial Arts

Modern mixed martial arts emerged in 1993 with the Ultimate Fighting Championships, based on the concept of pitting different fighting styles against each other in competition with minimal rules, in an attempt to determine which system would be more effective in a real, unregulated combat situation. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, MMA competitions implemented additional rules for the safety of the athletes and to promote acceptance of the sport, while maintaining as much of the original no-holds-barred concept as possible. Since these changes, MMA has grown rapidly, to the point of setting pay-per-view records.

The history of the modern sport can be traced to the Gracie family's vale tudo ("anything goes") martial arts tournaments in Brazil starting in the 1920s, and early mixed martial arts matches hosted by Antonio Inoki in Japan in the 1970s. MMA gained international exposure and widespread publicity in the US in 1993, when Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter Royce Gracie dominated the Ultimate Fighting Championship, sparking a revolution in the martial arts, while in Japan in 1997 the continued interest in the sport resulted in the creation of the PRIDE Fighting Championships.