The History of UFC

by Richard Janvrin, April 18, 2025

While we enjoy wagering at online UFC betting sites today, there were numerous times throughout the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) that it was nearly shut down.

It opened in 1993, and over those 30-plus years, a lot has happened.

Below, we’ll provide you with a brief overview of the history of UFC, including the early years and when the UFC was founded, as well as ownership groups like Zuffa, Endeavor, and ultimately, TKO.

Let’s dive in.

• The Early Years
• Late 1990s and Early 2000s
• Zuffa and Dana White Leadership
• Mainstream Success
• Endeavor and ESPN
• WWE and UFC Merger

The Early Years

The UFC’s origins date back to 1993, when it was founded by businessman Artie Davie and a Brazilian martial artist, Rorion Gracie.

The first-ever event was held in 1993 at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado.

Initially, the UFC aimed to determine which form of martial arts was superior, but without weight classes and with as few rules as possible.

There were all types of competitors, including Kevin Roser (kickboxer), Gerard Gordeau (savate fighter), Zane Frazier (karate), Ken Shamrock (shooter who was also in WWE), and Royce Gracie (Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt).

The first show had 86,592 pay-per-view subscribers.

The event was meant to be a one-off, but they continued to host them. So, when did UFC start gaining traction? It came right at UFC 1.

One of the fights that stood out was that between Keith Hackney and Emmanuel Yarbrough. They were 9 inches taller, and Hackney weighed about 400 pounds more.

In April 1995, after UFC 5, Davie and Gracie sold to SEG (Semaphore Entertainment Group) and disbanded their WOW Promotions.

Speaking of UFC, there was a controversial fight between Shamrock and Gracie that led to time limits, judges to score fights, and referees to stand fighters up after too much time doing nothing on the mat.

The first event outside the United States in UFC history was UFC 8 in Puerto Rico in 1996.

Late 1990s and Early 2000s

By the mid/late 1990s and into the 2000s, the history of UFC took a bit of a turn as it garnered more attention.

When did UFC start drawing this attention? In 1996, United States Senator John McCain saw a tape of UFC and referred to it as “human cockfighting”.

From there, 36 states banned no-holds-barred fighting, including New York.

This came at a terrible time: on the eve of UFC 12, had to relocate to Alabama.

Due to this criticism, the UFC began working more with state athletic commissions and changing its rules to make it more appealing.

At UFC 14, gloves were mandatory and strikes to the head when downed were banned.

Then, UFC had limitations on pulling hair, small-joint manipulation, and more.

This changed the sport for many competitors, such as Mark Coleman, who enjoyed using headbutts.

Now, he no longer could.

The UFC was led by Jeff Blatnick then. He, along with referee John McCarthy and, eventually, matchmaker Joe Silva, created a manual that reviewed the policies, procedures, and code of conduct to assist in getting the UFC sanctioned.

By mid-2000, states like New Jersey and California had started to come on board.

By the end of the year, there was a sanctioned event, UFC 28, under the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board’s rules.

Zuffa and Dana White Leadership

The history of UFC took another turn in 2001. SEG was on the brink of bankruptcy because of their efforts to secure sanctioning.

Station Casino executives Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta were interested, and they, along with a business partner named Dana White, approached SEG with an offer.

They bought UFC from SEG for $2 million and created Zuffa. LLC, which served as UFC’s parent company.

Thanks to their connections in Nevada and Las Vegas, the Fertitta’s were able to secure sanctioning in the state. Eventually, UFC was brought back to pay-per-view with UFC 33, holding three title fights.

Mainstream Success

You may be wondering, “When did UFC start finding mainstream success?”

Well, that began to rise shortly after Zuffa took over, and it was because of their excellent advertising, sponsorships, the return to pay-per-view, and DVD releases.

In fact, Donald Trump, the current President of the United States, took an interest in UFC and offered his venues, like the Trump Taj Mahal, as venues.

UFC then got television deals with Fox Sports Net. The first-ever televised main event was Chuck Lidell and Vitor Belfort at UFC 37.5.

By UFC 40, there were sellout crowds.

It sold over 13,000 tickets at the MGM Grand Arena and made 150,000 pay-per-view purchases.

UFC 40 caught the attention of ESPN and USA Today, which featured Tito Ortiz and Shamrock, who had come over from the WWE.

UFC was on the brink of bankruptcy again, but UFC 40 showed it could be successful.

By 2004, Zuffa incurred over $34 million in losses, but it kept going.

After this, there was The Ultimate Fighter, a reality TV show of sorts that showcased talent in fights. It was slotted behind WWE Raw on Spike TV.

The finale featured a bout between Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar, who were fighting for a six-figure contract. The broadcast received a 1.9 rating, and White said that TUF 1 saved the UFC.

In later years, Zuffa purchased World Extreme Cagefighting and Strikeforce, which brought over more talent to help bring more mainstream stardom.

One of those stars was Ronda Rousey, who would go on to put women’s MMA on the map and make UFC a household sport.

Endeavor and ESPN

Fast-forward to 2016, Zuffa sold UFC to WME-IMG for over $4 billion. This was the largest acquisition in sports history at the time.

WME-IMG was renamed Endeavor in 2017.

It was later revealed that a company bid $5 billion for UFC, but the Fertittas went with Endeavor because of their relationship with CEO Ari Emanuel.

Then, in May 2018, UFC signed a deal with ESPN, which started in January 2019.

The five-year contract was for $300 million per year and included digital and linear rights. UFC provided 42 events to ESPN per year, some of which were streamed on ESPN+, its streaming service.

In May 2019, a two-year extension was signed, and the UFC PPVs were now only sold through ESPN+.

WWE and UFC Merger

After sorting through the COVID-19 pandemic and a betting scandal that ultimately led to the UFC banning all athletes, coaches, and family from betting on the sport, another massive merger occurred.

Think back to the origin of the UFC and imagine this: In 2023, Endeavor merged with WWE to form a new company, TKO.

Emanuel would oversee it, and WWE’s shareholders had a 49% stake in the company.

The merger was valued at more than $12 billion.