Most Popular MMA Organizations from around the world

 

UFC – Ultimate Fighting Championship

   – The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is a U.S.-based MMA promotion. Dana White serves as the president of the UFC while Zuffa, LLC (controlled by Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta) owns the company. Inspired by vale tudo competitions in Brazil, the UFC held its first competition in Denver, Colorado in 1993. Showcasing fighters of different proficiencies—including boxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, wrestling and Muay Thai, among others—the UFC sought to discover which martial art was the most effective in a real fight. After a period of political backlash, the UFC gradually underwent reform by embracing stricter rules and achieving sanctioning with State Athletic Commissions. With a cable television deal and expansion into Canada, Europe and new markets within the United States, the UFC as of 2009[update] has gained in popularity, along with greater mainstream-media coverage. As of 2009[update] viewers can access UFC programming on pay-per-view television, Spike in the United States and Canada, on ESPN in the United Kingdom as well as in 33 other countries worldwide.

 

Strikeforce – Fight promotion

   – Strikeforce is a U.S.-based mixed martial arts (MMA) and kickboxing organization based in San Jose, California. It is headed by Scott Coker and Silicon Valley Sports and Entertainment, operators of the HP Pavilion and the San Jose Sharks. Its live events and fights are currently shown on Showtime in the US and on Super Channel in Canada. The promotion debuted on CBS on November 7, 2009 with Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers. Strikeforce was founded in 1985 as a kickboxing organization. It became involved with mixed martial arts in 2006 with its first MMA event, Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Gracie, on March 10, 2006, at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. The event was California’s first regulated MMA event and broke the previous record for largest audience at a MMA event in the United States, previously held by UFC 57, with its 18,265 in attendance. The record was since broken by UFC 68 and K-1 HERO’S Dynamite!! USA, although Shamrock vs. Gracie retained the paid attendance record of 17,465.

 

PRIDE Fighting Championships

   - PRIDE Fighting Championships (from October 11, 1997 - October 4, 2007) was a Japanese mixed martial arts organization which was promoted by Dream Stage Entertainment before the organizations was sold to Frank Fertita III and Lorenzo Fertita of Zuffa in 2007. During its lifespan, PRIDE held 68 events and was considered by many to be the top MMA promotion in the world. 

Pride Fighting Championships (Pride or Pride FC for short) was a mixed martial arts organization based in Japan. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts events. As one of the most popular MMA organizations in the world during its ten years of operation, Pride broadcast to about 40 countries worldwide. Pride also held the largest live MMA event audience record of over 70,000 people at the Pride and K-1 co-production, Shockwave/Dynamite, held in August 2002, as well as the audience record of over 67,450 people at the Pride Final Conflict 2003.

In March 2007, Dream Stage Entertainment sold Pride to Lorenzo Fertitta and Frank Fertitta III, co-owners of Zuffa, which owns rival promotion the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). While remaining legally separate entities with separate managements, the two promotions were set to cooperate in a manner akin to the AFL-NFL merger. However, such an arrangement did not materialize, and in October 2007, Pride Worldwide’s Japanese staff was laid off, marking the end of the organization as an active fight promoter. As a result many of the Pride staff left to form a new organization alongside K-1 parent company Fighting and Entertainment Group. This new organization founded in February 2008 is entitled Dream.

 

King Of The Cage

   – As the brainchild of Terry Trebilcock, King of the Cage first started promoting events almost ten years ago, when mixed martial arts, then known as No Holds Barred (NHB FIGHTING), was on the verge of extinction. In the following years, Trebilcock would dodge bullets but steadily cultivate the promotion into what is now known as one of the largest MMA institutions in the world. Today, King of the Cage is available on PPV / In Demand to over 50 million homes in more than 25 countries. KOTC is also viewed on Fox Sports Net, which broadcasts to over 200 million homes. King of the Cage is being aired no less than 178 days per calendar year. Through years of blood, sweat and tears, King of the Cage has proven to be an integral part in the evolution of Mixed Martial Arts. No other production has promoted more fights than King of the Cage. KOTC has and continues to promote hundreds of shows throughout the world, including 17 of the United States and far-reaching countries such as: England, Singapore, Hong Kong, Canada, and Australia. King of the Cage has been a career starter and builder for countless stars as: Forrest Griffin, Quinton Rampage Jackson, Rashad Evans, Krazy Horse, Keith Berry, Mac Danzig, Paul Buentello, Urijah Faber, Joe Stevenson, Diego Sanchez, Thiago Alves, as well as legends like Don Frye, Shonie Carter, Dan Severn, and Vernon “Tiger” White. Sustainability is the key factor in any production, King of the Cage continues to operate because of a multitude of key factors with one of the most important being its allegiance to the fighters and the fans. King of the Cage is the founding father of not only a Sport, but a Lifestyle! In 1998 Trebilcock launched his promotion King of the Cage based out of Fontana, California with his first event on a Tennis court. Terry was given a written class/group project on entrepreneurship which unveiled a man, a vision, and an organization that would prove to be the next wave of sports entertainment that has become one of the leaders of the fastest growing industry in the world. Terry Trebilcock graduated from Claremont High School in Southern California, and enrolled in Cal. State Fullerton, taking business classes. Throughout his life Terry has had his hand in different business ventures, but one particular opportunity caught his eye about 10 years ago, Mixed Martial Arts. To get an understanding of what exactly was taking place inside the ring, Terry enrolled himself in a few different martial arts schools, as well as purchasing an instructional series by a MMA legend named Royce Gracie. Trebilcock continued to his own pursuit within the walls of many Inland Empire gyms to figure out how he could become bigger, faster, stronger and technically sound. King of the Cage is a mixture of several different martial arts, which pits one person’s martial arts style versus another. It is a full contact sport, which has slowly but surely made its way to the mainstream public and most importantly into our living rooms everyday.World Extreme Cagefighting

 

Cage Rage

   – Cage Rage was founded by Dave O’Donnel and Andy Geer in September of 2002. Cage Rage is a United Kingdom based mixed martial arts promotion with a relatively large following in England. Cage Rage events are televised on cable television channel Sky Sports. The history of Cage Rage started when the current owner Andy Geer and Dave O’Donnell needed money to buy mats for their Gym. Therefore they promoted a small mixed martial arts tournament in London. The initial Cage rage event was a huge success and thus led to the establishment of the Cage Rage Championships. The first Cage Rage event was held in London In Elephant and Castle venue in 2002. The growth of the sport of mixed martial arts helped increased the popularity of Cage Rage. Audiences in the United Kingdom grew astronomically in 2006.Beginning of the year, the Cage Rage Championship attendance was in the region of 2,500. By the end of the year the promotion moved to the Wembley Arena filling up its capacity of 12,000, though the arena was configured for a smaller crowd. In addition to the latter the last event, which was held at Earls Court Exhibition Centre saw Cage Rage filling over 12,000 seats. The Cage Rage promotion rules are in accordance with the New Jersey State Athletic Commission. These are the same rules that are integrated within the Ultimate Fighting Championships as well as other large US based mixed martial arts competitions. The rules are designed to protect the fighter from serious injury or harm. The 4oz gloves are mandatory as are many other rules designed for the fighter’s safety such as no head butting and no fish hooking. From Cage Rage 13, changes to the Unified Rules have been carried out; most noticeable are the “Open Guard” rule and the stopping the use of elbow strikes to a downed opponent. Similarly to the UFC, the Cage rage Championship promotion has also launched a secondary show referred to as Cage Rage Contenders. This show allows up and coming fighters to compete and showcase their skills. This show is designed to allow new fighters to have a platform to go into the main Cage Rage show. This show is designed to emulate the early shows where the cage is surrounded by VIP tables and is held in venues like the night club. Cage Rage also attempted to franchise the Contenders name to other promotions across the country in order to further popularize the tournament. In summation, Cage rage is the largest UK based mixed martial arts events. With the UFC expanding it shows internationally it will be interesting to see if people will prefer the UFC over Cage Rage. However there is absolutely no reason why both organizations can run successfully alongside each other.

 

K-1

   – K-1 is a Japanese kickboxing promotion based in Tokyo, Japan founded by Kazuyoshi Ishii, a former Kyokushin karate practitioner, and owned by the Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG), who organize combat sport events in Japan, and around the world, that include events by the mixed martial arts promotion Dream. K-1 combines stand up techniques from Karate, Muay Thai, Taekwondo, Savate, San Shou, Kickboxing, western-style Boxing, and other martial arts. It’s rules are similar to those of kickboxing but they have been simplified to promote exciting matches that may end in a knockout win. K-1’s techniques and unique rules have led some supporters to declare it a sport distinct from Kickboxing while others maintain that it is a just style of kickboxing. There are K-1 Regional Elimination Tournaments which qualify fighters for the K-1 World Grand Prix, along with licensed K-1 Fighting Network events designed to develop new talent internationally and there is also a 70 kg (154 lb) Super Middleweight division called K-1 MAX (“Middleweight Artistic Xtreme”). In 2007, K-1 introduced two new Title belts separate from K-1 World GP Champions, Super Heavyweight World Title for fighters over 100 kg/220 lbs and Heavyweight World Title for fighters under 100 kg/156-220 lbs.

 

EliteXC

   - Elite Xtreme Combat, also known as EliteXC, was a U.S.-based mixed martial arts (MMA) organization. It was founded as a partnership between Showtime Networks Inc. and ProElite, Inc. and officially announced on December 14, 2006. It was headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The partnership to form EliteXC was announced on November 13, 2006. The first major event occurred February 10, 2007 at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven, Mississippi. Fighters Frank Shamrock and Renzo Gracie fought in the main event. In early 2008, EliteXC had reached an agreement with CBS to broadcast EliteXC shows on prime time. The arrangement was that CBS would broadcast EliteXC specials every other month on Saturday nights. CBS aired only three events in 2008, on May 31, July 26, and October 4. ProElite announced on October 20, 2008 that they would cease operations.

 

Dream

   – Dream (styled DREAM in capitals) is a mixed martial arts organization promoted by Fighting and Entertainment Group and co-produced with the former Pride Fighting Championships executives from Dream Stage Entertainment. It is the sister production of K-1 kick boxing. Dream replaced FEG’s previous-run mixed martial arts fight series, Hero’s. The series retains many of the stylistic flourishes and personnel from Pride FC broadcasts, including fight introducer Lenne Hardt. In America, the promotion is aired on Mark Cuban’s HDNet.

 

Affliction

   – Affliction Entertainment was an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company created by Affliction Clothing in 2008. The UFC prohibited its fighters from wearing Affliction clothing after learning Affliction was considering also becoming an MMA fight promotion. Donald Trump, who owned a significant equity stake in Affliction Entertainment, was often seen sporting Affliction T-Shirts at the PPV events. Although the promotion bears the Affliction name, it is not run by Affliction Clothing, but is an independent branch of the company. Affliction Entertainment has promoted two pay-per-view (PPV) MMA events. The third (Trilogy) was scheduled for August 1, 2009, but was canceled July 24, 2009 due to Josh Barnett testing positive in the pre-screening drug test. Also on July 24, 2009 it was announced that Affliction has folded their MMA Promotion and will sponsor the UFC once again.

Affliction: Banned

Affliction entered the world of MMA fight promotion with the announcement of its event Affliction: Banned which took place on July 19, 2008 in Anaheim, California at the Honda Center. The card at Banned featured many of the top MMA heavyweight fighters. The main event was the return of Pride FC Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko fighting against former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia. Emelianenko submitted Sylvia thirty-six seconds into the first round to win in convincing fashion. Afterward Emelianenko was crowned the first Heavyweight Champion of the new World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts (WAMMA) independent sanctioning body. The event also saw victories by former UFC Heavyweight Champions Andrei Arlovski and Josh Barnett and former UFC Light-heavyweight Champion Vitor Belfort. Affliction’s total attendance (14,832), with a paid attendance of (11,242) and live gate of ($2,085,510) The total disclosed payroll for the event was $3,332,100.

Affliction: Day of Reckoning

Affliction: Day of Reckoning was the second event by Affliction and took place on January 24, 2009 in Anaheim, California at the Honda Center. The main event featured current World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts (WAMMA) Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko successfully defending his belt against former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski. Also on the card was Josh “Babyface Assassin” Barnett who defeated Gilbert Yvel. In a light-heavyweight match current Strikeforce Champion Renato “Babalu” Sobral beat Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou. Matt Lindland was re-assigned from a 195-pound catchweight bout with Sobral to a middleweight matchup against former UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion Vitor Belfort.

Headlining the undercard, which was broadcast on HDNet Fights, the first and last IFL Light-Heavyweight Champion Vladimir Matyushenko lost to PRIDE veteran Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

Affliction: Trilogy

Affliction: Trilogy was to feature a fight between Fedor Emelianenko and Josh Barnett for the WAMMA Heavyweight title as its headline event at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California on August 1, 2009. On July 22, 11 days before the scheduled event, the California State Athletic Commission announced it would not license Barnett because he tested positive for a banned substance. Later that day, the CSAC issued a press release which stated that anabolic steroids was the substance detected in Barnett’s drug test.