If you are a martial arts fan who loves watching great fights and many fighters engaged in using all they know to tackle their opponents, you need to keep an eye on the UFC.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
This is a company that puts together events where many fighters who are skilled at MMA, or mixed martial arts, face each other inside a cage or octagon, putting their skills to the test.
The most common techniques and moves you can see are punching, elbowing, kicking, and grappling, between the opponents.
A Slice of History
The first event that the company put together was back in 1993, on November 12th, and they have come a long way since then, with more than 500 live events on their record. As MMA at the beginning, lacked proper regulation and rules, the company struggled to rise and become respected.
How Fighters Win
Inside the cage or octagon, the fighters face each other until the referee determines that one of them can’t continue or is knocked out. Sometimes the time simply runs out and it is left to the judges to pick a winner, other times an illegal move causes the fighter to be disqualified. A doctor can also stop the fight if he is concerned for a fighter’s safety.
Weight Divisions
The pairing of fighters to face each other is done by weight, to avoid inconveniences that result from having bigger fighters going against smaller ones. The names of the divisions are heavyweight, light heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight, lightweight, featherweight, bantamweight, and flyweight.
What to Expect
Besides all the moves, the different techniques, and electrifying fights inside the cage, you need to know that each round lasts about five minutes. If you are watching the main event or a fight where a title is going to be disputed, more likely than not there will be five rounds of five minutes each.
In between rounds, there is a resting memento for the fighters to get themselves back together and receive advice from their coaches, along with having any medical needs treated.
Although it is great fun for those of us who love martial arts, the UFC events and MMA are dangerous and unbearable if you can’t stand watching fighters in pain.
Despite these dangerous elements that are quite shocking to an unknowledgeable observer, the fights are far from barbaric and the UFC goes to great lengths to make sure the fighters are ok.
Besides setting up the fighters to be divided by weight, they also use all kinds of protective gear like small gloves, mouth guards, and groin cups, besides fighting in a padded arena.
When witnessing and enjoying a UFC event you can expect an action-packed time with displays of the best martial arts moves and shocking reactions by the fighters. Just try to keep in mind that it is all carefully controlled and that the UFC has enough experience to know what works better to keep everybody safe.