Part 1: Lighting The Fuse, The Night That Shocked The World

Mixed Martial Arts is often termed the world’s fastest growing sport however it is still very young by any criteria. It could be reasoned that there has always been contests to see which types of fighting were most dominant from the very limited rules set of Pankration in Greece at the Olympic Games in 648 BC to the no holds barred Vale Tudo in the Brazilian circuses of the 1920’s and everything in between. There is something in built within the human psyche that seeks perfection in fighting and relishes the spectacle.

The term Mixed Martial Arts and the sport we recognise as the international phenomenon began in November, 1993 with an eight man no holds barred tournament that would forever change the face of combat sports, UFC 1.

The event changed the worldview and life paths of martial artists worldwide, it was specialist versus specialist and style versus style including Sumo, Boxing, Savate, Taekwondo, Shootfighting, Kickboxing, American Kenpo and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, all competing for $50,000 and, most importantly, the reputation of their respective martial art. Since MMA’s inception the sport has evolved far beyond the individualised specialist skillsets and brawling described here in part one of this series. Nowadays and well regulated, at the highest level we see some of the greatest athletes on the planet with multiple world class skillsets and the sport’s greatest stars earning a household name and millions of dollars for each outing. The record breaking numbers in terms of eyeballs and dollar figures seem far removed from the event that most had to seek out a precious VHS tape to witness.

Even at the lowest level fighters have at least a base understanding of the many phases of combat, plenty of opportunities and gyms offering MMA as a lesson rather than a singular focus or a loose cobbling together of the different martial arts.

In this four part series I present a through the ages and through the eras overview leading us to the current MMA landscape with reference to the development of the sport and the men and women driving this evolution, and what an evolution it has been so far.

Unlike many sports where there is a game every week, mixed martial artists have three, perhaps four fights a year with gruelling two-three month-long camps beforehand. Combine this with your win bonus constituting half of your pay cheque, the very real threat of being knocked out or submitted in front of thousands of live screaming fans, often millions worldwide on TV and you have the highest stakes in professional sports. No one wants to be part of someone else’s highlight reel.

Back to Denver, Colorado, November 12 1993 and UFC 1 to set the scene. UFC 1 was eight-man tournament on pay-per-view with the winner having three fights in one night to be the promotion’s inaugural champion. In each of the seven fights that evening the only method of victory was KO, submission or the corner team throwing in the towel. It was proudly presented to the public in a cage with no judges, weight classes, rounds or time-outs and once that cage door closed the only way out was through a lifelong martial artist in a blaze of glory or on your shield. The fights were wild and quick, there were only two rules (no biting or eye gouging) and it was bare knuckle. Well, bare knuckle save for the boxer Art Jimmerson wearing one-glove to “protect his jabbing hand”, later revealed by Campbell McLaren, the first executive producer of UFC, actually was “to make sure we could see him tapping with the other hand” if he was submitted. The promoter had ensured that every man stepping in that cage looked the part and had the resume to back it up.

Fight one pitted 6 foot 5, 216lb Gerard Gordeau, Dutch Kyokushin Karate Champion of eight consecutive years and 1991 World Savate Champion against Teila Tuli, a 6 foot 1, 440lb highly accomplished Sumo wrestler.

The bout lasted a mere 26 seconds as Gerard dodged the Sumo’s initial attack and knocked him out with a roundhouse kick to the head and an uppercut on the way down. The bout left him with a badly broken hand and two of the Sumo wrestler’s teeth lodged in his foot so severely they were left there and taped over for fear of worsening the wound. Despite his injuries Gordeau was through to the second round and one step closer to absolute victory. Savate triumphed over Sumo.

Fight two saw 6 foot 4, 265lb Kevin Rosier versus 6 foot 6, 230lb Zane Frazier. Taking the fight on five weeks’ notice Rosier was three times World Kickboxing Association Superheavyweight Champion and International Sport Karate Association North American Superheavyweight Champion. All of Rosier’s kickboxing victories had come via KO, a feat he continued until stepping away from the sport with 66 wins and 66 KOs.

Zane Frazier was no slouch either and had been World Kickboxing Federation Champion, North American Karate Champion and two times International Karate Champion with a fourth degree black belt in American Kenpo Karate.

After some back and forth the fight surprisingly degenerated into a brawl and Frazier’s corner through in the towel when their fighter was beaten to the ground and Rosier started, completely legally in this setting, to stomp his downed opponent. Frazier was hurried to hospital after experiencing respiratory failure and Rosier was through to a hard fought second round versus the injured Gerard Gordeau. Kickboxing had prevailed over Karate in this contest.

On the other side of the brackets standing 6 foot even, 165lb Royce Gracie, allegedly with rolls of quarters in his pockets when weighing in to increase the appearance of his weight, representing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu took on the aforementioned boxer, 5 foot 11, 200lb Art Jimmerson wearing his now legendary one red glove. The idea of a fighter trying to increase his weight is ludicrous in today’s day and age illustrated by fighters dehydrating themselves to make weight and gain an advantage in size, with some instances a whopping 15% of their body weight between day before weigh-ins and the fight itself.

Royce Gracie was part of the legendary fighting Gracie family from Brazil and like all of the brothers well versed in the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, a primarily submission based ground fighting style that they considered the pinnacle of fighting and a point they were eager to prove.

Royce was considered the weakest member of the family at the time and was allegedly chosen to display the dominance of the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in UFC 1 due to, and despite of, the physical disadvantages he would be up against. Later it was revealed that the family’s champion Rickson was the first choice and turned the venture down due to financial reasons. Although severely outweighed by every possible opponent Royce entered the tournament in what could be considered as one of the most risky and fruitful marketing ploys ever conceived.

With a record at the time of 29-5 in boxing, Art Jimmerson was the 8th-ranked in the IBF at Cruiserweight, winning 15 fights in a row prior to his bout with Gracie and later described by the promoter as a “legitimate boxer” who he thought would not just beat but injure the much smaller man.

Jimmerson may not have been in the best frame of mind admitting afterwards his fear of the skills of Gracie and subsequent injury spurred on by conversations with Big John McCarthy who is still going strong as a referee. Jimmerson’s participation was to earn $15000 promised by the promoter in negotiations, the down payment on a new house.

Gracie wore his gi out to the cage accompanied by a train of family members each with hands on the shoulders of the man in front of them. The bout began and Gracie quickly shot his double leg takedown to bundle the boxer to the ground and worked to the mount position pinning Art’s lone gloved arm to the mat in the process. Fearing what was to come Art conceded defeat and submitted granting Gracie passage to the second round and the winner of the upcoming fight 4. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu stunned the crowd and beat Boxing soundly.

Fight four had 6 foot even 200lb Ken Shamrock representing Shootfighting versus 6 foot 2, 225lb Patrick Smith representing Taekwondo however he was experienced with a number of striking arts.

Shamrock, later given the nickname “The World’s Most Dangerous Man” for his MMA performances had fought mixed rules professionally in Japan before UFC 1 and was a submission hold expert winning all four previous bouts with different submission holds before entering the tournament.

At the time Patrick Smith was a Super Heavyweight kickboxer and ranked number one in the United States for that promotion and was that years’ Enshin Karate Sabaki Challenge Heavyweight champion.

Shamrock won the bout quickly throwing Smith to the mat and applying a heel hook submission, a particularly nasty hold that torques and tears the ligaments in the knee. The fans weren’t appreciative due to a combination of Smith being the home town boy from Denver where the event was held and not really understanding what submission holds were despite the agony being quite apparent on Smith’s face. Another submission style in Shootfighting surmounted Taekwondo.

Four styles of martial arts were relegated and two striking specialists and two submission specialists moved on through to the second round and their second bouts of the evening. The stage was set to answer which of these men and their respective martial arts was to emerge victorious.

The first fight of the second round saw Gerard Gordeau, the Savate and Karate champion versus Kevin Rosier, the kickboxer and sport Karate champion. Despite his injuries and significant weight disadvantage Gordeau ran through his opponent in less than a minute. Rosier dropped to the ground balled up following a series of leg kicks and jabs. Once on the ground elbow strikes and stomps to Rosier as he tried to regain his footing drew the bouts conclusion and granted Gordeau passage to the final and his first submission threat. Gordeau and his Savate seemed unstoppable.

The second fight of the semi-finals pitted the two submission specialists against one another. Gracie shot his double leg and this time Shamrock sprawled and rotated putting Gracie on his back.

Following a series of heel kicks to the kidneys Shamrock dropped to his own back for the heel hook that won him his first fight and Gracie took full advantage to come to the top position. Gracie manoeuvred behind Shamrock and finished the fight with a rear naked choke. With their legs entangled with Shamrock pounded the mat in submission desperate for air for his lungs and blood for his brain. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu conquered Shootfighting and Gracie moved on to the final and a daunting test in the much larger Gerard Gordeau.

Two martial arts and two martial artists remained; perhaps poetically it was striking versus groundwork, though Gracie gave up 50+ lbs of weight and 5 inches of height. The crowd expected a massacre.

The final was another shockingly quick affair despite Gordeau’s initial efforts to block the takedown. Gracie dragged him down to the mat, manoeuvred to the back and secured a rear naked choke. It took some time for the referee to drag Royce off his man with Gordeau forced to resort to furiously tapping with both hands to get the point across but just like that, the tournament was over.

Gracie had triumphed and MMA was born with a shockwave that rippled for years to come. The man stuffing coins in his pockets at the weigh-ins, the lightest and most unlikely winner from the casual perspective was crowned champion. More importantly the word was out about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and the world took note. A combat sports arms race began that night and has never stopped since..