Through all the doubts and criticism, mixed martial arts has finally made it.
But UFC 100 isn't about the fights. It is about the sport and how it has outlasted the media backlash and political opposition to not only survive, but prosper. No matter the outcomes of the fights Saturday, every mixed martial arts fan should celebrate.
On Saturday, mixed martial arts has officially arrived. It's legitimate. It's a successful business and a growing sport. It's been a long, tough road for the sport so it's time to look back on 10 crucial components that allowed the sport to reach the success it is enjoying.
1. Dana White: Say what you will about the brash UFC president, but without Dana White, the UFC would have failed. Like White has stated many times, this was his destiny. He is unconventional, ruthless and often offensive, but for some reason the style worked.
He viewed the UFC as a league just like the NFL. In order to grow, he had to bring in the best and most charismatic fighters. You don't see top football players in the CFL and Dana White is working everyday to make sure fans don't see top fighters outside the UFC. Is it cutthroat the way he bans clothing companies and locks fighters up to iron-clad contracts? Maybe. Is it effective? Yes.
The next president of the UFC will surely be a hotshot business school graduate, and that person should do just fine. But White has laid the entire foundation and turned a no-holds barred "human cockfight," into a legitimate and thrilling sport in the eye's of the public.
2. State athletic commissions: Yeah, they can be difficult to deal with, but they reinvented the sport into an actual sport. There's not much skill involved when there are no weight classes and people can take cheap shots below the belt. That bloodsport mentality is stupid and classless. But throw in five weight classes, strict rules and time limits for each round and you have a sport. Without the regulations, MMA would have faded a long time ago.
3. The Ultimate Fighter: I hate watching grown men act like children as they are locked in a house and denied any form of communication, but the show put the UFC on the map. It brought the best fighters no one had ever heard of into one place and let them compete in a tournament while expressing their personalities. It's been said time and time again, but Forrest Griffin vs Stephan Bonner was the most important fight in UFC history. Griffin has gone on to be one of the most popular UFC fighters and paved the way for future TUF alumni.
4. Gracie Ju Jitsu: The first time fans saw Royce Gracie take down opponents 50 pounds bigger than he was it left them in amazement. The amazement turned into a fascination for many and jujitsu became all the rage. The submission style grappling seemed fool proof and leveled the playing field. No matter how big, strong or fast an opponent was, Gracie jujitsu could always win a fight.
5. Tito Ortiz: UFC's first true crossover star. He was in commercials, TV shows and movies. He dated celebrities, talked plenty of trash and made people interested in the sport. He was a walking, talking billboard for UFC. People either wanted to see him smash his opponent or get smashed by his opponent, but either way, people cared when Tito Ortiz walked into the octagon.
6. The fans: Without the fans, clearly the sport would not succeed. But the main quality these fans have that is crucial to the sport is the way they accepted the lighter weight classes. Boxing fans seem to want to watch heavyweights and are still searching for an exciting heavyweight to get them interested in the sport. But MMA fans immediately took a liking to the "little" guys which has allowed the UFC to have stars in every division.
7. TapOut: I'm not a huge fan of their clothes, but it took the sport to the people. Fans would see TapOut on Tito Ortiz's shorts, then they would be able to buy a shirt. That fan would show their friends the new shirt, and all the sudden non-MMA fans buy a shirt and get interested. It's an unusual for a sponsor to mean so much to a sport, but the UFC and TapOut is a marriage that needed to happen for the sport to go mainstream.
8. Globalization: The first time UFC stepped out of Las Vegas after it established itself, there were a lot of concerns. 60 or so shows later, the whole world wants to host a UFC event. By taking the show on the road, more people took a liking to the sport and even started training. Now fighters can come from England, Mexico, Japan, Russia, Australia or wherever. It's not just Brazilians against Americans.
9. PRIDE: That's right, without PRIDE making waves in Japan, UFC wouldn't be half the product it is today. Competition always forces the best out of one another, and PRIDE made sure the UFC worked to put the best fights on each and every time out. Without PRIDE, UFC would not have moved with the urgency and efficiency it showed the last few years.
10. Joe Silva: He is not as famous as Dana White, but just as important. Card after card, Joe Silva puts together the best matches possible as the UFC's booker. He has a great sense of finding the best prospects and matching them up with someone who can provide a challenge. He has done a great job overall when it comes to making title fights and is great at persuading fighters to take chances (ie Anderson Silva's move to 205 and Wanderli Silva to 185). His matchmaking is top notch and much harder than people give him credit for.
There you have it. The top-10 reasons UFC has made it to magic number 100. Check back tomorrow for another UFC 100 special.
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