UFC's Strategic Rise In Popularity

UFC HISTORY

The Ultimate Fighting Championship, which began in 1993, has grown tremendously since UFC 1 when Royce Gracie imposed his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu on all of his unfortunate opponents. Compared to the fights we watch on Spike Television now, this era of Mixed Martial Arts was poles apart. The original founders, Art Davie and Rorion Gracie, were unable to find a Pay-Per-View Producer who would take the risk of airing this Ultimate Fighting performance. That was until SEG, a company known for taking on unique events, agreed to do the competition. The initial format for the UFC consisted of a tournament in which 8 of the elite international fighters fought till there was just one man left, the Ultimate Fighter. Bare knuckles and no rules set the tone for all 86,000 subscribers of this memorable night.

http://www.411mania.com/MMA/video_reviews/54464/History-of-the-UFC:-UFC-I---The-Beginning.htm

UFC BREAKING INTO THE MAINSTREAM

As the years progressed without proper marketing and no worthy sponsorships to speak of, the UFC was slowly withering away. Eight years ago, President Dana White acquired the organization with two wealthy casino owners, and is responsible for turning it into the successful entity it now is. However, at the time it was a gutsy move for Mr. White. They purchased the UFC in 2001 for $2 million:
“The UFC now fills arenas in North America and Europe, produces a hit cable series (Spike TV's The Ultimate Fighter) and has smashed the all-time pay-per-view record. In 2006, the UFC generated more than $200 million in pay-per-view revenue, outperforming boxing and pro wrestling. Last year, Time magazine estimated the UFC's value to be over $1 billion.”

http://www.mensfitness.com/sports_and_recreation/athletes/73

Mr. White put together a reality show called the Ultimate Fighter, where:
“16 contestants are trained by two legendary UFC competitors, Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell, and must live together while battling for a pair of Ultimate Fighting Championship contracts.”

http://ufcstore.seenon.com/detail.php?p=25641&SESSID=

This unique show put UFC on the map, and landed itself a place in the culture of today’s mainstream entertainment. This show which began in January of 2005 was such a hit that itself became a widely recognized brand, with the UFC logo imprinted on their clothing line. Fans watch these popular athletes training in their UFC apparel, which builds the brand name and the desire to wear such clothing. More than just clothing though, they are producing potential world champions. However, turning great fighters into world champions is not a walk in the park. It takes a fighter endless hours of arduous training in the gym, the strictest of diets, and a clean lifestyle to even consider it a possibility. Such a tremendous warrior happens to be on the cover of this month’s edition of Men’s Fitness. He is the widely popular, Season 1 Light Heavyweight winner, Forrest Griffin. In addition, he is the current Light Heavyweight Champion of the UFC, winning a decision over Quinton Jackson this year at UFC 86.

http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=search.relatedMedia&gid=13208&ss=ufc%2086

Mr. White’s former struggles finding sponsorship ended due to the wide success of the show, landing contracts with Burger King and Scion. In addition, earlier this year in February, they signed a three year contract with Anheuser-Busch making them their sole beer sponsor. With Bud-Light as the UFC’s exclusive beer, Dana White climbs further up the food chain.

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Fighting/News/2008/02/28/pf-4883083.html