It’s no secret that martial arts has indeed come a long way in recent times. Many years ago, Bruce Lee helped the arts become even more famous, when he developed his style of Jeet Kune Do. He took part in several movies, showing the world his speed and finesse. Since then, movies have been a fashionable way to showcase martial arts skills.
Back in the early 1990s, something called the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) came along to take things one step further. Although there have been other competitions close to the UFC, none of them had the flair and the dedication as UFC did. When it first commenced, the UFC paired different styles and different weight classes.
The result were exciting fights with varying results. The initial ever champion was a man from Brazil named Royce Gracie. Gracie was the first one to introduce Brazilian Jui-Jitsu in this fashion, opening the eyes of everyone who witness him fight. After the initial UFC tournament, Brazilian Jui-Jitsu was instantly viewed as the best martial art. Royce weighed under 200 pounds, and he was completely dominating people nearly 3 times his size.
Gracie would go on to win UFC 2 and 4 as well. He was the most dominating in the sport, and opened the eyes of everyone across the world. In UFC 3, he didn’t lose, although he ran into a very tough fighter who nearly beat him. Gracie came back in UFC 5 for a superfight match up with Ken Shamrock, which would go the distance and lead to a draw.
Other fighters have done exceptionally well in the UFC, although none of them had the impact as Royce Gracie. Fighters like Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn, Oleg Taktarov, Matt Hughes, and Matt Sylivia in addition have done very well. Matt Hughes is in addition regarded in concert of the best, as he fights in the Welterweight class and is viewed pound for pound to be the foremost fighter globally.
In the world of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), the UFC has created a big impact. In the beginning, there were no rules and no judges, just one on one fights until someone either tapped out, got knocked out, or the ref through in the towel. Fighters also fought in a tournament style as well, which took 3 fights to win the championship.
In recent times, there were several changes. The UFC would start with judges after a couple of years, beside eliminating the tournaments. The fights would eventually go to one on one, which was great for the fans. Although the fights didn’t have time limits in the beginning, they do now. The non title fights are three 5 minute rounds, while the title fights are five 5 minute rounds.
If a fight goes to the judges, the judges decide the winner. The’re three judges, which generally change with each different UFC. Judges are there do determine the winner if there’s no knockout or submission, while the ref is there to protect the fighters. The referee can stop a fight as well, if a fighter can’t to defend themselves.
With all the changes in the rules of the UFC, it’s only an item of time before the UFC gains a lot more popularity. It is more popular today than it ever has been, which tells you that martial arts have come a long way. Martial arts is very popular these days, with competitions such as the UFC being one of the most popular sports in the world.
