As a sport, MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), has long divided opinion: Is it barbarism, or the evolution of pugilism? No matter, the argument was always on the periphery, as interest in ‘anything goes’ fighting tournaments was more an underground thing. Although western audiences got a glimpse of primordial MMA in 1993, with the inception of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, this sporting amalgam wasn’t mainstream. Indeed, the media hype — both abhorrent and praising in varying measure — attracted more interest than the actual fighting. Until recently that is.

As the nineties were ending, public and political pressure forced the UFC to sanction their competition. When Zuffa, LLC bought the company in 2001, they paved the way for an increased popularity in MMA. Stars were born, well-known faces such as Tito Ortiz, an ageless Randy Couture and Chuck ‘The Iceman’ Liddell emerged, taking over from the old guard, such as Ken Shamrock, who was synonymous with the earlier, more brutal incarnation of UFC.

What really helped UFC take off, in particular, was the introduction of a reality TV show. An MMA version of The Contender — rather aptly titled The Ultimate Fighter — where a group of fighters battle it out for a contract with the UFC, was a huge success (having currently spawned five series). The nature of the show, where the audience follows the fighters’ feelings and emotions and pick their favourites, made celebrities out of otherwise relatively unknown fighters. If the inclusion of this show was part of a plan to make UFC more popular, it was a roaring ingenious step.

Today, UFC fighters are as popular, if not more popular than boxers. The top stars have moved off the specialist magazines and onto the covers of mainstream titles such as Sports Illustrated. In the US, pay-per-view sales figures beat those from boxing and WWE events in 2006. Indeed, the recent boxing mega-clash between Oscar de la Hoya and Floyd Mayweather was seen in some quarters as a saviour for boxing. A saviour for boxing? An overreaction or perhaps a realisation, caused by the ‘sports entertainment’ effect — the UFC effect.

The one mute point about MMA is that many of the best fighters ply their trade in rival organisations. Pride Fighting Championship — a Japanese-based rival to UFC — also harnessed a crop of talented fighters. Thus, there were always arguments about who really were the worldwide kings of each weight class. Over the past year or so, Zuffa, LLC saw an opportunity to settle the score finally, buying out a number of smaller MMA associations whilst retaining the respective fighting rosters. Via these acquisitions, two of the better-known fighters absorbed into the UFC were Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and Mirko Cro-Cop.

Many expected Cro-Cop to dominate an otherwise lackluster UFC heavyweight division. But this view was doused after he was knocked out in UFC 70 (held in Manchester, UK) by a veteran UFC fighter, Gabriel Gonzaga. Similarly, many chose UFC light-heavyweight champion, Chuck Liddell — previously untouchable in his weight class and UFC’s most marketable star — to avenge a previous MMA loss to Rampage Jackson at the recent UFC 71. The result, far from expected, was Jackson knocking out Liddell in less than two minutes.