It was an event that permanently altered the combat sports
landscape.
WOW Promotions and Semaphore Entertainment Group brought the
Ultimate Fighting Championship to life on Nov. 12, 1993 in
Denver, where martial artists from various disciplines were brought
together in a one-night tournament to determine the best form of
hand-to-hand combat. Ten men—eight quarterfinalists and two
alternates—entered the cage without a firm grasp on what was going
to transpire.
Royce Gracie
introduced the world to Brazilian jiu-jitsu, defeating three
opponents in less than five minutes combined to emerge as the last
man standing. The UFC has since staged more than 600 events and
grown into a multi-billion-dollar business, and it can all be
traced back to one fateful Friday in November nearly 30 years
ago.
As the Ultimate Fighting Championship machine marches forward, a
by-the-numbers look at
UFC
1:
7,800: Fans in attendance to witness the event at the McNichols
Sports Arena, which was home to the NBA’s Denver Nuggets at the
time.
3: Countries represented at UFC 1. Gracie (Brazil) and Dutch savate
stylist
Gerard
Gordeau (Netherlands) were the only two foreigners booked to
compete.
5: Sub-minute finishes at the show, highlighted by Gordeau’s
26-second technical knockout of
Teila Tuli—the
result of a ruthless head kick that sent some of the Hawaiian’s
teeth flying into the crowd. It continues to elicit visceral
reactions to this day.
108: Total strikes landed across the 10-bout lineup.
Kevin Rosier
and
Zane
Frazier combined to deliver 51 of them in the longest match
(4:20) on the card.
15: Significant strikes landed by Rosier in his first-round
technical knockout of Frazier. No other competitor connected with
more than 12 at the event. In fact, only Frazier (12) and Gordeau
(11) reached double figures in the category.
0: Post-UFC 1 appearances for Tuli and
Art
Jimmerson. They were the only participants not to compete in
mixed martial arts again.
164: Seconds needed for Gracie to submit Gordeau with a rear-naked
choke to win the UFC 1 tournament. It ranks as the fifth-fastest
finish of Gracie’s hall-of-fame career.
50,000: Dollars in prize money awarded to Gracie as the tournament
winner.
2: Fighters from the event are now deceased. Rosier died at the age
of 53 on April 14, 2015 and
Patrick Smith
passed at the age of 55 on June 19, 2019.
.542: Cumulative winning percentage between the 10 men who competed
at the event.
Jason DeLucia
holds the most career victories (33) and was also saddled with the
most career losses (21) of anyone on the card.