Welcome All

This is my new blog dedicated to the growing sport of MMA. I started watching with intrigue as they were showing the pay per view of UFC 3 at the sports bar at the Norfolk Naval Station. I was distinctly in awe of Royce Gracie being the smaller person and taking out the bigger person with takedowns and submissions. Then for the most part in 1997, the sport that had been marketed as "No Holds Barred" with very few rules (the only rules at that point had been no eye gouging or fish hooking). By UFC V they had instituted a 30 minute time limit, and by UFC VI the started using judges. Sen. John McCain started campaigning to have the sport of MMA outlawed and effectively killed the PPV for the UFC, so by then you could only either buy or rent the VHS or attend one in person. In 2001, the UFC was bought by the current owners, Zuffa LLC, owned by Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta who sought to bring legitimacy to the sport of MMA. They instituted new rules and weight classes which allowed the sport to be sanctioned by athletic commissions and opening markets in places like Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Also in 2001 it marked a return to PPV for the UFC with UFC 30. UFC has been growing ever since, and reached even higher with the addition of the Ultimate Fighter reality tv series which just finished there 3rd season which is shown on Spike TV. I look forward as the sport grows here in the USA (unlike Japan that has Pride FC