Modern
Modern mixed martial arts tournaments are rooted in two interconnected movements. First were the vale tudo events in Brazil, followed by the Japanese shoot wrestling shows. Vale tudo began in the 1920s with the “Gracie challenge” issued by Carlos Gracie and Hélio Gracie and upheld later on by descendants of the Gracie family.In Japan in the 1970s, a series of mixed martial arts matches were hosted by Antonio Inoki, inspiring the shoot-style movement in Japanese professional wrestling, which eventually led to the formation of the first mixed martial arts organizations, such as Shooto, which was formed in 1985. The concept of combining the elements of multiple martial arts was pioneered and popularized by Bruce Lee in the late 1960’s to early 1970’s. Lee believed that “the best fighter is not a Boxer, Karate or Judo man. The best fighter is someone who can adapt to any style.” His innovative concepts were recognized in 2004 by UFC President Dana White when he called Lee the “father of mixed martial arts.Mixed martial arts gained significant international exposure and widespread publicity in the United States in 1993, when Royce Gracie won the first Ultimate Fighting Championship, sparking a revolution in the martial arts.In Japan in 1997, the continued interest in the sport eventually resulted in the creation of the PRIDE Fighting Championships.The United States Army began to sanction Mixed Martial arts when the US Army Combatives School held the first annual All Army Combatives Championships in Nov 2005.The sport reached a new peak of popularity in North America in the December 2006 rematch between then light-heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell and former champion Tito Ortiz, rivaling the PPV sales of some of the biggest boxing events of all time,and helping the UFC’s 2006 PPV gross surpass that of any promotion in PPV history. In 2007, Zuffa LLC, the owners of the UFC MMA production, bought Japanese rival MMA brand PRIDE merging the contracted fighters. and drawing comparisons to the consolidation that occurred in other sports, such as the AFL-NFL Merger in American football.