The Origin Of The UFC

Humble Beginnings

It all started in Brazil with the Gracie family. They lived in Belem do Para, Brazil where they had business with the American Circus in Belém. In 1917 Mitsuyo Maeda, a Japanese jiu-jitsu master performed at the circus and caught the attention of Carlos Gracie. Carlos Gracie befriended Mitsuyo and decided to learn Japanese jiu-jitsu. The whole family moved to Rio De Janeiro in 1921 due to financial hardship. This is where Carlos Gracie taught jiu-jitsu to his younger brothers Oswaldo and Helio. Helio had been battling sickness for a number of years and due to his weak physique he modified some techniques to work for him. Carlos and Hélio are considered to be the creators of modern Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Challenging The World

Since the creation of modern Brazilian jiu-jitsu the Gracie family advertised it by challenging any other martial art. This is how they showed the effectiveness and won students over. Helio fought and won numerous times during his time including world heavyweight wrestling champion Wladek Zbyszko and judoka champion Kato. Rorion Gracie the oldest son of Helio Gracie wanted to push their martial art to the next level. Rorion moved to the United States and taught Brazilian jiu-jitsu on a mat out of his garage for 10 years. He knew that in order expand Brazilian jiu-jitsu to the world he needed to challenge the world. This is how the idea came about to create a tournament to see which martial art was the best in the world.

Creating The UFC

Teaching out of his garage Rorion met writer and director John Milius who ended being one of his students. One day they started wondering how they could come up with a ring where fighters cannot get out. This is how the octagon was invented. Rorion Gracie also partnered with promoter and business executive Art Davie. The initial thought was for Rickson Gracie to represent the Gracie family on UFC 1. Rickson having a huge physique would not impress the crowd and show the dominance of Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Wanting to show the power of jiu-jitsu over bigger opponents it was decided to choose small frame and skinny Royce Gracie.

UFC 1

The first UFC event was held in Denver, Colorado on November 12, 1993. It used an 8 man tournament format with the winner taking home a $50,000 purse. There were two main rules, no biting or eye gouging. No weight classes or judges. The fight can only end with a knockout, submission or someone giving up. Each round was 5 minutes unlimited times until they had a winner. Royce Gracie won the tournament by first defeating Art Jimmerson and Ken Shamrock. The final fight was between Gerard Gordeau a 6’5, 216 lbs kick boxer  and Royce Gracie 6’ 176 lbs. Royce won in 1 min 44 seconds with a rear neck choke.