It was a sellout at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne and a tennis match wasn’t going on. The main court looked a little different with a huge eight-sided cage occupying space that is usually stage to some of tennis’ greatest. Flashing lights and cries of ‘Ozzie, Ozzie, Ozzie’ from the crowd lent a punk feel to the otherwise sombre arena.
Inside the octagon stood New Zealand-born Australian Robert Whittaker for whom the ‘Ozzie’ cries were intended. A few feet of blood-splattered turf away, stood his challenger, American Derek Brunson. In the middle stood the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s long-time announcer Bruce Buffer, who after introducing the two fighters, roared — with stretched ‘e’s and over-emphasised ‘i’s — the one line that he was famous for. “It’s time!”
There was a time when a UFC bout was as big a spectacle as it could get. There was blood, there was violence and there weren’t a lot many rules. But over the years, the American Mixed Martial Arts promotion has slowly been transitioning from spectacle to sport, while losing none of the glitz. Today their bouts are covered extensively by the likes of ESPN, they have a kit sponsorship deal with Reebok and make more money every year than professional boxing. Not bad for a sport that, in the beginning, was promoted by the same TV network that peddled curiosities like gender vs gender tennis matches.
Can a wrestler beat a boxer?
When the UFC came into being in 1993, very little was illegal. In fact, UFC 1, held in November that year, was promoted with the tag-line ‘Can a wrestler beat a boxer?’. It was a question that a mere 86,592 people tuned into see answered.
The early iterations of Mixed Martial Arts that the UFC employed did not have too many rules. In fact, ‘there are no rules’ was a tagline of the company’s early fights with almost everything except biting and eye-gouging legal. But that reputation caught up in the late 90s when future Republican presidential candidate and then senator John McCain started leading a campaign to ban what he termed ‘human cockfighting’. Under his influence, 36 states enacted laws to ban ‘no holds barred’ fighting.
But the UFC responded by codifying a set of ever-evolving rules, cooperating with various state athletic commissions in the US. Now there are 31 types of in-combat fouls and everything from apparel to gloves are regulated. Perhaps most staggering is how brand UFC has evolved. In 2001, the promotion was bought by Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta and their business partner Dana White for around $2 million. Just over 15 years later, in May 2016, UFC changed hands again. The price? $4.2 billion! Just $200 million cheaper than Formula One.
Multiple disciplines, one sport
Over the years, the fighter has evolved just like the rules and the sport. From the ‘wrestler taking on boxer’ bouts, the UFC now almost always features fighters who’ve had training in multiple disciplines. Take Ronda Rousey, who dominated the women’s division for years. The Olympic medallist in judo underwent extensive training in Brazilian jiu jitsu before stepping into the Octagon. Conor McGregor, the first fighter to hold titles in two different weight categories, was an amateur boxing champion before obtaining a brown belt in jiu jitsu.
But for every fighter, beneath all the skills lies a primal urge to fight and prove oneself. “I enjoy it,” says Andrew Holbrook, who defeated Jake Mathews, just before Whittaker brought the roof down in Melbourne. “It’s the one on one competition. The only person that you can blame in there is yourself.”
Australian Alexander Volkanovski who won his UFC debut the same night has similar views. “I’ve always enjoyed boxing and martial arts. A lot of people think it is dangerous, but I look at it as a sport. There are a lot of rules and regulations.”
India in expansion plans
While maintaining its base in North America, the UFC is slowly beginning to spread its wings all over the world. They have already cultivated a massive base in Australia and New Zealand. Europe is contributing fighters and audience. Next up on the radar is Asia. They have held events in South Korea, Japan, China, Philippines, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. Is India next?
“We are focusing on China in the interim,” says UFC’s vice-president of international development, Joe Carr. “But we see India as a long term opportunity. From a talent perspective, it is probably behind all the markets. We have seen how important it is for our growth in certain countries to have local talent. So we have taken it on ourselves to accelerate that. We have a couple of Indian fighters training at our camp in California. I’m hoping that will spur things.”
Carr confirmed while there are no events planned for India in the near future, the UFC was looking to expand operations in the country. “We are in the process of renewing our TV deal there and getting more coverage. We are also planning to expand support on the ground. It will take time, but India is a massive market.”