Today is the anniversary of the day that changed martial arts! What was the birth of the UFC and what role did Brazilian jiu-jitsu play in it?

12. on November 1, 1993, Denver, Colorado experienced a UFC 1 tournament that changed the history of combat sports forever! It was here that mixed martial arts as we know it today was born. What role did Brazilian jiu-jitsu play in the history of the UFC?

Recall the historic moment of the first UFC tournament

The date of November 12, 1993 will forever go down in combat sports history as the birth of mixed martial arts MMA. Although the history of the sport is somewhat confusing, let’s take a look at the tracks that led to the first UFC tournament.

In fact, the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver that night witnessed a tournament that was unprecedented in the martial arts world up until that point. But how did it all begin? A journey to Brazil to find a man with incredible fighting skills.

Let’s look to Brazil for the birth of the Gracie family

Hélio Gracie was a martial arts master and in Brazil he founded and developed the Gracie jiu-jitsu system of self-defense martial arts, now known as Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Hélio had many descendants who followed in his father’s footsteps and they too played a large role in the development of MMA.

One of the eldest sons, Rorion, moved to the USA where he did everything he could to promote his father’s fighting style. It was Rorion and American manager and businessman Art Davie who organised the tournament that is the forefather of today’s biggest fighting organisation, the UFC.

It was a classic knockout format in the style of Mortal Kombat or Blood Sport. Different styles, no rules! The poster for the tournament beckoned the aforementioned, and so it came to pass that a sumo wrestler and a karate player, for example, faced off. But there were rules.

No point judges, no biting or poking in the eyes. A match could be ended in only three ways. A knockout, a tap out or a towel thrown into the ring. Into the octagon, that is. In fact, Rorion’s student and Barbara Conan’s director, John Milius, decided that in order to make the fights interesting on television, the fights should take place in an octagonal cage topped with mesh.

How did the tournament itself work?

But back to the Gracie family. For the UFC 1 tournament, Hélio decided to call on his then youngest son Royce. He was the least experienced and the skinniest of the family, so much did Hélio trust his fighting style.

What happened next shook the whole world, because martial arts was never the same again. Royce stepped into the cage against far more powerful and bigger fighters, but one by one he knocked them out of the tournament.

People couldn’t believe their eyes. The young skinny Brazilian made the huge men give up with moves no one had ever seen before. Royce won the entire tournament and took home a $50,000 prize.

The rest, as they say, is history. However, martial arts achieved a massive change in the perception of combat sports fans that day. Where BJJ is today can be seen in many examples among the elite fighters of the UFC, the highest MMA league in the world.

For footage of the tournament, check out the video below.

Source: BJJ World, UFC, YouTube