Combat sports have been a way of entertainment for humans for thousands of years. From fights to the death in the Roman Colosseum to Olympic wrestling in ancient Greece, fighting leagues have always captured waves of audiences’ attention. 

But as time progresses, so does fighting. With all these different types of fighting, how can one determine which league features the best fighters? Well, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has solved this question by simply creating a league that allows Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighting, which is a type of fighting style that allows combatants to combine their techniques, making it an intense but exciting sport to watch.  

For the last 20 years, the UFC has been dominating the global scale in popularity for combat sports leagues. The UFC has a massive worldwide fan base and is broadcast in over 165 countries. It has transformed mixed martial arts into a mainstream sport, with events drawing millions of viewers across various platforms. The average fight typically brings in 1-2 million viewers. Some of the biggest events, such as Conor McGregor‘s fights, have drawn over 4 million PPV buys, translating to an even larger global audience when including television, streaming platforms, and online views.

Since the UFC includes all types of fighting, they end up signing some of the best fighters in the world across multiple disciplines (boxing, wrestling, Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, etc.), ensuring that fans see the most skilled and exciting rounds. The UFC’s ranking system and regular championship matches guarantee high-stakes, competitive fights.

Another reason I love the UFC is how they display their fighters to fans. They obviously always make the showdowns intense and almost nerve-racking to watch, but they also do a phenomenal job of following fighters’ lives and their personalities. 

Many of the UFC’s fighters weren’t born in America and have remarkable life stories and experiences that they show their audiences. Having a favorite fighter isn’t always just about who is the deadliest in the octagon, but rather listening to these heartfelt stories that show how truly hard these players worked to get to where they are now–or maybe you like them because of how funny or scary they are. Regardless, the UFC will always have a fighter that will catch your interest; that’s why they all have massive fanbases. 

The UFC is also such a great league because, believe it or not, the fighters experience fewer knockouts and head injuries during matches compared to boxing. Due to the style of fighting, MMA allows for all different types that don’t only focus on striking to the upper body, and unfortunately for many boxers, strikes to the head often cause long-term head trauma. So not only is the UFC a more accurate representation of who is truly the most talented fighter, but it also ends up being safer for them in the long run. 

In my opinion, the UFC has progressed fighting leagues all over the world by including all different types of martial arts, allowing people to get an answer to the question: Could a black belt in Karate beat a red belt in Jiu Jitsu? This league has extremely entertaining fights that have the best of the best fighters in the world; it’s also way safer for the players themselves and allows players to not only know the athletic side of their favorite fighters but their true personalities as well.