There seems to be some confusion regarding MMA, or Mixed Martial Arts, and UFC or Ultimate Fighting Championships. MMA is the fastest growing sport worldwide today, so I receive a lot of questions regarding how these two are related. Here I will attempt to clear the air.
MMA is a regulated combat sport combining elements from every Martial Arts discipline known to civilization, and a few that are created by fighters or trainers. The most common elements that are combined by MMA fighters are equal parts wrestling, Jiu Jitsu, and striking. Wrestling involves ground positioning, submission defense, and clinch work. Jiu Jitsu consists mostly of taking the opposition down onto the ground and ground based submission grappling. Striking is the most aggressive skill set that an MMA participant needs to master. It is made up of Boxing for striking with the hands and some type of leg striking discipline such as Muay Thai Kickboxing. There are dozens of other types of Martial Arts disciplines practiced by combatants, but those three categories of MMA are the most common.
The UFC is the largest MMA promotion in existence today. The UFC has a roughly 80% market share of worldwide profits in the MMA fight promotion sports niche, and are reported to be a billion dollar operation. The UFC was purchased in 2001 for around two million dollars by Zuffa, LLC. At the time of the purchase, the UFC was nearly bankrupt, and MMA was an unregulated, dying sport. The ownership and management of Zuffa, saved the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. They did this by lobbying to get the sport regulated by the states, and getting the sport on TV in the form of The Ultimate Fighter show. The Ultimate Fighter show, and Pay Per View broadcasts have proven to be the UFC’s most successful forms of exposure. The last thing the UFC has done well is they have cornered the market on top end talent. Most UFC champions are considered at or near the top of their weight class according to most recognized ranking systems. Today, with the UFC flush with cash, parts of the ownership of Zuffa, are regularly listed on lists consisting of the wealthiest Americans. Other MMA promotions that are prominent are Affliction, Strikeforce, and Elite XC in the United States. Dream and Sengoku are the most popular promotions over seas.
The only known to be profitable MMA promotions in existence today are the UFC, and Strikeforce, every other organization is running in the red. Mixed Martial Arts is a tough business and not for the promoter that is faint of heart. That is the biggest reason that the UFC has such a strong brand name, and is often confused for MMA. When someone calls MMA the UFC, you can sort of think of it as if you were referred to the sport of Football as the NFL. That is how dominant the UFC brand is within Mixed Martial Arts. In addition to the UFC brand, there are also several other successful companies that have been born from MMA. This includes Tapout, a reported 200 Million dollar MMA clothing company that didn't exist 10 years ago and Affliction. Affliction is a reported Billion dollar company that had such successful MMA clothing sales, that they started their own promotional arm. This illustrates how fast MMA is growing, and how successful the UFC has been.
Author Resource:-
Jamies MMA blog is found at www.mmasmarts.com and www.mmasmarts.info He lives in the Midwest, where he is a married father of 2 that has a strong passion for mixed martial arts. He is the VP of an IT reselling company by day, and a chauffeur for kids’ sports activities along with being a frequent contributor to MMA blogs by evening. Jamie does not hold a degree in journalism, but he is long winded all the same. He likes responding to your comments; you can reach him at jamie@mmasmarts.com
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.greatfreearticles.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites