Beech Tree News Network

In the ‘90’s, a controversial new sport hits television and America can’t look away.  1993 was America’s first look at the Ultimate Fighting Championship.  The sport had been first popular overseas.  Mixed Martial Arts is a tournament format that incorporates karate, tae kwon do, wrestling and jujitsu.  The early UFC is a far cry from the predetermined professional wrestling.  It bears no resemblance to the glitz and glamour of professional boxing.  The UFC of 1993 isn’t even the UFC of 2024.  The UFC of ’93 was an anything goes, unsanctioned free-for-all.

The real story of how the UFC became a multibillion-dollar sports franchise begins with a 46-year-old salesman in California who makes a living hustling everything from office machines to health club memberships.  “I was a classic entrepreneur.  I owned a car dealership in San Diego where I did my own stunts (in the commercials).  I jumped off a ten-story building.  I got shot with a .357 magnum.  I got set on fire and then I got dangled from a helicopter.  Anything to sell a car.  I also got burned out selling things other people created.  I was ready to create something myself.  I’m Art Davie, the creator of the UFC”.

Having trained as a boxer in his youth, Davie was fascinated by the huge array of fighting styles from around the world.  “During the 1980’s in the martial arts magazines, there are articles about who would win in a contest between different martial arts styles.  I started to think about what I could do in the way of a tournament.  One of the things I discovered was an article in a national magazine about an individual named Rorion Gracie.  The Gracie’s were a family of martial artists from Brazil who innovate a new style of martial arts.  They called it Gracie Jujitsu.  Rorian learned jujitsu from his father.  When he immigrated to America, he told martial arts magazines he was ready to issue the Gracie challenge.  It didn’t matter where you came from or who you were.  If you liked boxing or studied karate, come to our gym and test it.  We believe we will defeat you using Gracie jujitsu.  And they did.  Davie wound up working right down the street from the Gracie Academy.

To promote the supremacy of his family’s fighting style, Gracie agrees to partner up on an MMA tournament if Davie can overcome the state laws and athletic commission rules that would prohibit this kind of fighting event.  “I figured out the state of Colorado has a loophole in the law that will allow us to do a bareknuckle tournament.  I went up to Colorado and got a limited liability company for Rorian and I.  We called it W.O.W Productions-War Of The Worlds.  I said to Rorian “we gotta raise some money”.  They also had to find someone to air the event.  “I got turned down by HBO, Showtime, ESPN.  They all said the same thing to me: are you crazy”?

In 1993, the television landscape in America was going through a transformation.  Newly launched communication satellites make up to 150 channels available across the country.  It also opens the way for pay-per-view events where audiences pony up a one-time fee to see live events at home on tv.  Davie is hoping his War of the Worlds will be one of them.  “There was a company in New York called Semaphore Entertainment Group.  They had been doing concerts and comedy on pay-per-view.  They did things like The Judds’ farewell tour but didn’t have a franchise.  Davie says “young men, and eventually the world, will pay for this”.  Semaphore executive Bob Myrowitz is intrigued by the idea and agrees to a 50-50 partnership with War of the Worlds productions, joining Davie as one of UFC’s co-creators.  A guy named Michael Abramsom from Semaphore at the last minute said “War of the Worlds tells me this is a movie.  This is real life.  This is the ultimate fighting championship.  Everyone said “hey, that’s a pretty good name”.

With name and funding secured, Davie and his team are eager to heighten the drama of the competition by creating a fighting platform perfectly suited to the UFC’s unique style of combat.  The multi-sided cage was born.  They originally wanted to electrify the cage, as if this whole thing wasn’t crazy enough.  Thankfully, they did not.  Next, they needed fighters.  Jorian immediately offers up his brother, Royce.

Davie had caught wind of a guy who was a wrestling champion overseas named Ken Shamrock.  Shamrock, who had a rough upbringing, would eventually be UFC 1 headliner in 1993.  Ken didn’t have a family and was adopted by Bob Shamrock, giving Ken his last name.  Ken would go onto headline UFC 1 in 1993.  While a success, UFC 2 was an even bigger success, more than tripling UFC 1’s buy rate.  

Late U.S. Senator John McCain from Arizona wrote a letter in 1997 to all state governors saying “please don’t let this(UFC) come to your state”.  It had already been outlawed by 36 states.  It won’t be long before all 50 do”, McCain once said.  The UFC was going to court.  Davie, seeing the writing on the wall, wanted out.  After the company’s fifth tournament, Davie decides to sell his share to UFC co-founder and Semifore CEO Bob Myrowitz.  Bob bought it for $7 million.  Davie became UFC commissioner.  

Next week I’ll bring you part two.  Thanks for reading and feel free to check out my podcast, Blendertainment, at the links below.

https://open.spotify.com/show/61yTPt9wXdz37DZTbPUs16?si=lw4gR-7xQ22E-zhy... and https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/blendertainment/id1541097172