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.
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