When was mma founded

These fights could go on for hours. The fights occurred in a square, small ring, forcing close quarter combat. Techniques included strikes, choke holds, elbow strikes, knee strikes, joint locks, and kicks.

Many believe that the Greek mixed martial arts made their way to Asia where they became the catalyst for Asian martial arts. It is said that pankration was used to help Spartans with their hand to hand combat.

Brazil also is credited for contributing to the foundation of established mixed martial arts with their discipline of vale tudo, which literally translates to anything goes. These competitions became underground events that were originally performed in circuses throughout Brazil. Mixed martial arts was started by the ancient Greeks in BCE when it was introduced to the 33rd Olympic games.

At the time, it was called pankration. It was a mix of boxing and wrestling and very little rules. The only things that you were not allowed to do in the ring were biting and gouging. During the Olympics , this was considered a heavy event, where only the best athletes were allowed to compete.

The fight was either won by submission or death. Although it displayed extreme violence, it was a crowd favorite at the time. The UFC started off as a one-night tournament that featured athletes from various disciplines such as kickboxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, karate, and even sumo. The very first tournament took place on November 12, , and many people did not know what to expect.

The very first fight was between Teila Tuli, a sumo wrestler, and Gerard Gordeau, a kickboxer. The first thing people may have noticed is the massive weight difference. This was a problem at first in the UFC because there were not that many rules to protect the fighters.

However, as the sport grew, the UFC developed its rules so fighters can be better protected. Despite a large number of historical influences, modern MMA is considered to stem from Brazilian jiujitsu and vale tudo; the latter is yet another full-contact hybrid combat sport that originated in Brazil. Vale tudo events date back from the s.

And the rest is history. During less than 30 years, MMA evolved from a marginal television event to a global phenomenon in which large amounts of money are invested. The popularity of MMA continues to increase and the sport has yet to reach its peak. How far it can go is pretty difficult to tell, but I can safely presume that MMA will continue to grow in the following years as more people get attached to the spectacular fights and events. Contents show. First Mixed Martial Art.

The scary thing about MMA's evolution is that what we have seen in only the past four years of the sport will one day be seen as outdated and perhaps even one-dimensional, and in the future of this sport, fighters will make common usage of moves that have yet to successfully work in today's MMA.

MMA's come a long way since the days of pure jiu-jitsu vs. Looking back, it's a wonder if the forefathers of the sport—who probably didn't understand the sport they were creating when they put together the first UFC—had any idea as to whether the Ultimate Fighting Championship would ever evolve to what it is right now.

If I had enough to place a decent bet, I'd say they couldn't have ever seen the UFC of today coming in their wildest dreams, but seeing as how it was created to show the effectiveness of jiu-jitsu to the world, they would be proud to see where it's at right now.