UFC stands for Ultimate Fighting Championship, an American mixed martial arts organization, also known as MMA (Mixed Martial Arts).
The championship fights involve a mix of styles such as Jiu Jitsu, Boxing, Wrestling, Muay Thay, Karate and others.
One of the special features of the UFC championships is the eight-sided ring (octagon), enclosed by a grid, where fighters fight in 3 5-minute rounds. In title fights are 5 rounds of 5 minutes.
UFC was the first renowned Vale-Tudo event, held in the United States in 1993 and inspired by the Brazilian Vale-Tudo.
The initial goal of the UFC was to find the best fighter in the world, regardless of the martial arts style he practiced.
By allowing any maneuver between opponents (the only prohibitions were biting and placing fingers in the opponent’s eyes), the UFC became known as “no holds barred fighting“, or that is, everything was worth it.
Normally, the fights were very violent and were called “human cockfighting”.
The UFC soon became a pay-per-view hit, but the sport also caught the eye of the authorities and these events were banned from several states.
Due to political pressures and lack of audience of the channels, UFC set more rules for the fights, began to be controlled by athletic commissions and became popular.
Brazilian fighter Anderson Silva is a big name of the UFC and one of the biggest representatives of mixed martial arts in Brazil. He specializes in Muay Thai and is a world middleweight champion.
