On 9 July 2016, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced that the company would be sold to WME-IMG (now Endeavour) for $4.025-billion — which is more than the current valuation of Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, the New York Yankees and Manchester United combined.

At the time, it marked the largest-ever acquisition in sport.

Only 20 years earlier, the late US senator John McCain led a campaign to ban the UFC, calling it “human cockfighting”, and sent letters to the governors of all 50 US states asking them to ban the sport.

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) has quickly evolved from a niche sport to one of the fastest-growing in the world. And it is in no small part due to the popularity of the UFC, which accumulated revenue of $1-billion last year.

Dustin Poirier (left) battles with Michael Chandler during their lightweight fight at UFC 281 at Madison Square Garden on 12 November 2022 in New York City. (Photo: Jamie Squire / Getty Images)

The UFC also influenced many other MMA competitions in the world, including the Extreme Fighting Championship (EFC), the South African MMA promotion company that is currently the largest of its kind in Africa.

Garreth McLellan, JP Buys and, more recently, Dricus du Plessis and Cameron Saaiman (both will compete at UFC 282), are among those who graduated from the EFC to the UFC.

Gracie Challenge

The UFC has its roots in Brazil and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) — more specifically, in the Gracie family and the Gracie Challenge, an open invitation challenge match issued by members of the Gracie family, representing their self-defence system of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu (or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) against challengers of other martial art systems in a no holds barred competition in 1920s Brazil.

The purpose of the Gracie Challenge was to prove the effectiveness of the Gracie style of BJJ over all other martial arts styles in an era before the advent of MMA.

More than 70 years later, UFC 1, the first UFC event — co-created by Rorian Gracie — took place on 12 November 1993.

The event was tournament-style with fighters participating in quarterfinals, semifinals and a final, all on one night.

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The winner of the inaugural tournament was Royce Gracie, brother of Rorian.

The rules and regulations of UFC 1 were minimal: no biting, no eye-gouging and no groin attacks, with fighters from various fighting backgrounds and weight categories slogging it out.

Unsurprisingly, 36 American states banned UFC on the eve of UFC 12 — including New York — because of its loose regulations, forcing it to move the tournament to Alabama.

Casey O’Neill of Scotland punches Roxanne Modafferi in their women’s flyweight fight during UFC 271 at Toyota Center on 12 February 2022 in Houston, Texas. (Photo: Carmen Mandato / Getty Images)

To unban the sport, organisers implemented more rules and regulations and introduced weight categories.

A new era

In 2001, with sanctions still in force and the UFC on the brink of bankruptcy, businessmen and brothers Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, along with their business partner Dana White, purchased the UFC for $2-million.

“I had my attorneys tell me that I was crazy because I wasn’t buying anything. I was paying $2-million and they were saying, ‘What are you getting?’ ” Lorenzo Fertitta told Fighters Only magazine as he recalled the lack of assets he acquired in the purchase.

“And I said, ‘What you don’t understand is I’m getting the most valuable thing that I could possibly have, which is those three letters: UFC. That is what’s going to make this thing work. Everybody knows that brand, whether they like it or they don’t like it, they react to it’.”

Despite the investments of the Fertittas and White, who acted as president of the UFC and still does today, the UFC became a sinking money ship until 2004.

‘The Ultimate Fighter’

The UFC was relying on pay-per-view purchases and fans remained interested, but it was hard for the company to get new fans because of the niche nature of the sport.

They decided to venture into television with a reality series titled The Ultimate Fighter which featured up-and-coming MMA fighters in competition for a six-figure UFC contract, with fighters eliminated from the competition via exhibition mixed martial arts matches.

The Ultimate Fighter became an instant hit when it launched in 2005 and introduced new fans to the sport and the UFC. It helped fans follow the journeys of fighters from amateurs to professionals in the UFC.

Alex Pereira (left) battles Israel Adesanya during their middleweight fight at UFC 281 at Madison Square Garden on 12 November 2022 in New York City. (Photo: Jamie Squire / Getty Images)

With increased visibility, the UFC’s pay-per-view buy numbers increased substantially. UFC 52, the first event after the first season of The Ultimate Fighter featuring Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture, drew a pay-per-view audience of 300,000.

Legality

As well as increasing the UFC’s popularity, the success of The Ultimate Fighter also made a real difference for the sport of MMA as a whole. Following the financial and popular success of the show, the UFC began to add strength to its executive team.

A vital addition was made in March 2006, when the UFC announced it had hired Marc Ratner as vice president of regulatory affairs. Ratner was the former executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission, and had, equally importantly, been a key ally and advocate for Senator McCain’s campaign against no-holds-barred fighting.

However, in his new role in the UFC, he became a catalyst for growth in MMA, and became a key figure in legitimising the sport. Ratner campaigned for the sport and lobbied countless US athletic commissions in favour of authorising the sport.

Years of campaigning and rallying finally paid off in 2016, when on 22 March, the New York Assembly voted to lift the long-standing 1997 State ban on MMA.

Endeavour era

In 2016, the UFC was sold to Hollywood talent agency WME-IMG (which later became Endeavour) for more than $4-billion. Despite the change of owner, UFC president White agreed to remain in his position to run the company.

Roxanne Modafferi punches Casey O’Neill of Scotland in their women’s flyweight fight during UFC 271 at Toyota Center on 12 February 2022 in Houston, Texas. (Photo: Carmen Mandato / Getty Images)

The most recent UFC event, UFC 281, on 12 November 2022, sold $11.56-million in tickets, the second-highest grossing event in Madison Square Garden history, and the 27th consecutive sellout for the promotion, according to White.

As the clear leader in MMA organisation, the UFC continues to expand and host events around the world, from Brazil, England and Ireland t0 New Zealand and Singapore.

Athletes’ earnings

There has, however, been some controversy over the amount athletes are paid in the UFC.

It is estimated that the UFC only shares between 16% and 22% of its revenue with fighters, which is vastly lower than sports in other American leagues such as the NBA, MLB, and NHL, which share about half of the revenue with their athletes.

UFC fighters are paid per fight, with amounts depending on how well known the fighters are and how well-sponsored a fighter and an event are. 

Fighters will typically get paid money to fight, called show money, with an additional bonus if they win, called a win bonus.

Alex Pereira (right) battles Israel Adesanya during their middleweight fight at UFC 281 at Madison Square Garden on 12 November 2022 in New York City. (Photo: Jamie Squire / Getty Images)

Despite not being officially confirmed by the UFC, fighter Justin Gaethje revealed in January 2019 that headlining an event nets an additional $25,000 per fighter. Fighters new to the UFC can make as little as $10,000 per fight (without a win bonus).

More established fighters have made as much as $500,000 to $1-million per fight. Occasionally, fighters will earn more. For example, at UFC 202, Conor McGregor made a reported $3-million, a UFC record for a single fight, while his opponent Nate Diaz made a reported $2-million. The combined $5-million made between the fighters was the largest combined fight purse in UFC history.

Cash bonuses are also awarded for “Fight of the Night” and “Performance of the Night”. The size of these bonuses can sometimes be $80,000 (but are normally $50,000). For less well-known fighters, they can be several times larger than the contracted amount for the fight. DM