Top 5 Unusual Facts About UFC

What five unusual and interesting facts about UFC are

UFC is a quite controversial kind of sport with its fights, fans and opponents.

Read the article to learn all the secrets and unusual facts about these fights.

Top 5 Unusual Facts About UFC

UFC has come a long way since its inception and has made giant strides forward in the world of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). Its headquarters is currently located in Las Vegas, with offices in many countries around the globe. UFC has managed to rake together over 60 global broadcast partners and is being broadcasted and live-streamed in over 165 countries globally. 

The UFC is seen as a heavyweight among MMA factions and has drawn significant controversies worldwide. These controversies range from the treatment of players to how they are promoted. Regardless, the competition maintains its top spot among the rest of the MMA factions. 

In 2013, the fighting competition launched a digital platform for hosting live events, and it was called ‘UFC Fight Pass.’Also, UFC has partnerships with several medical companies, including USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency), to make viewers more entrusted in the legitness of the sport. To access quick information on the UFC platform, check out the table given below:

UFC Sport Far Ago and Nowadays

Historically, UFC can be said to be a recon of the fighting competitions from the Greek Olympics Games events, dated as far back as 700 BC. However, ring fighting started to become very popular worldwide about 80 years ago. 

However, since the establishment of UFC in 1993, the once barbaric sport is now a mainstream sport broadcasted live on some of the most extensive television networks worldwide. The sporting event has come a long way, and it deserves to be on top where it is today.

Nowadays, UFC has been an inspiration to so many other industries. Some of these sectors would include software developing companies. These companies are now inspired to create video games and even casino games, including slot machines, concerning fighting scenes, as shown in UFC fights. You can find some of the best action-inspired casino games at the Slotozilla online casino. There are not only UFC-themed slots but a lot of related and all of them can be played for free with no registration and download required.

Unusual Facts About UFC

However, UFC fans would think there is little to know about the competition. There are some unusual facts concerning the sport. We shall discuss the top 5 unusual facts about UFC in the next section of our article, and they include:

The decision to use Alligators and Sharks in UFC fights;

Chuck Norris was an inspiration behind Octagon;

There are lots of lawsuits against the UFC;

The Pay Stinks;

Successes in UFC is determined mainly by personalities and not skills.

The Decision to Use Alligators and Sharks in UFC Fights

Once, the co-founder of UFC had said in an interview that they have considered having sharks and alligators around the cage for UFC fights. She said:

"We thought of a moat with alligators. We thought of an arena with sharks around. We seriously thought about an electric fence. But we could not if one guy pushed the other into the moat, and he'd get chewed up. We laughed at it, but in Hollywood, your mind travels, and we just thought of every different possibility. Eventually, I settled on the Octagon."

However, the idea was solely based on finding ways to make headlines as they had to explore all means to fame in Hollywood. Even more, they had thought of using an electric fence since the alligator idea was inconceivable as they did not want one of their fighters or both becoming shark food. However, this only showed how desperate the sports organizers were before UFC gained enough traction. Well, alligators or not, they have certainly made it to the top spot where they aspired to be.

Chuck Norris Was an Inspiration Behind Octagon

After deciding not to pursue the alligator and shark idea, the founders decided to come up with the Octagon. The Octagon is a famous term for the UFC's fighting cage. However, in 1993, the then film art director – Jason Cusson, brought on board to create a fighting surface for the sport, came up with the name. 

Later on, Jason revealed in an interview with ESPN that the term was inspired by a 1980s movie starring Chuck Norris. The movie was called 'The Octagon,' and Chuck played the part of a retired Karate champion who became a Ninja who took down terrorists. Although there were no octagon-shaped fighting arenas in the movie, the building where fights took place was shaped like an octagon. If the film director had not seen this movie, we probably would not have The Octagon today.

There Are Lots of Lawsuits Against the UFC

As many may know, the sport is not a saint in the sporting industry. However, the company kept these issues out of the media to keep the selling integrity of the fighting platform.

These legal issues began in 2014 when a former UFC champion fighter – Cung Le, and others filed an antitrust lawsuit against Zuffa, which is known to be the parent company of UFC. They had claimed that the competition was an illegal monopoly designed to destroy the businesses of other MMA factions and promoters worldwide. Furthermore, they had said that the company committed this atrocity in a bid to control and drive down wages for fighters. The lawsuit gained a class action in 2020. The suit now includes 1200 fighters who had fought in the octagon ring between December 16, 2010, and June 30, 2017. If the case is lost, UFC must pay all of these fighters a wholesome of around 5 billion US dollars.

The Pay Stinks

Another fact you may not know about UFC is how underpaid their fighters are. Even with these individuals risking their lives, they only receive a small fraction of what was earned from their fights. There have been several cases of former fighters and active fighters who have come forward to speak on how unfair the UFC pay structure is. 

According to the MMA Manifesto, a good percentage of the fighters make under $10,000. Over half of their soldiers earn a yearly amount between $10,000 to $99,000 before fees, costs, and taxes are removed. Considering how the company treats its fighters if anyone is injured or withdraws from a fight, the President of UFC – Dana White, comes on an interview, racking off such persons’ heads. Nothing gets him raging more than a fighter who refuses to fight. If a player refuses to fight, UFC could strip them of whatever title they might be held at the time. The UFC belt is made of gold, and it sure would hurt if a fighter loses their grip on 300,000 dollars’ worth of belt.

Successes in UFC Is Determined Mainly by Personalities and not Skills

This take may sound unreasonable to the naive ears, but as a UFC fighter, if you have the fighting skills but cannot trash talk your opponents on live TV, you might never get to be successful in the industry. This is because UFC tends to favour unskilled fighters with strong and stinking personalities rather than skilled fighters who are meek.

Coupled with being unfavored in the eyes of the judges, UFC is a hazardous sport with fighters ending up with injuries including:

Busted knees;

Ruptured ears;

Fractured fingers;

Broken ribs. 

Many fighters would avoid getting into the ring by playing the injury card. Also, the UFC has no issues allowing soldiers with prior convictions to return to the ring. It is all about making the big bucks for the owners of the competition. They do not care how skilled you are. They care the most about how rude you can be inside and outside the pentagon.

Conclusion

Before acquiring the UFC platform for two million dollars in 2001, the competition was famous for hosting death matches where two fighters must fight until only one is left breathing. As a result, UFC is banned in some countries because it is considered barbaric. For instance, in 2016, Jao Carvalho died after sustaining a brain injury during a fight. 

The tricky part of this mess of competition is those brain injuries are considered unserious in UFC. However, with these side disadvantages, UFC has been unable to expand into the UK and Mexico. Dana White had said Mexico had been their greatest obstacle due to the organized crime syndicates and the general Mexican initiative.