The fighting sports worldwide has continue to grow in popularity. In practically every country fans flock to see the fighting sports of their choice. Even the Islamic countries, such as Morocco have open up boxing to the female population in recent years.

Mixed martial arts (MMA) has steadily grown in popularity in this the United States since 1993 with the establishment of The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) by the Brazilian Ju Jitsu family, the Gracies.

Boxing and kickboxing in the 1970’s through the 1980’s has worked together occasionally in fight shows throughout the United States and Canada. Often boxing and kickboxing joined together because professional kickboxing was not embraced by the American public and proved not profitable.

Since 1993, Ultimate Fighting Championships or MMA has suddenly seen a meteoric rise in popularity because of the fighters are complete warriors. They are able to wrestle, box and kick. They fight standing and lying on the mat, similar to a real street fight. The fighters compete until one taps out due to a submission, such as a choke, receive a knockout blow or is pummeled to the point of not being about to fight back.

To date, the UFC has not had one fighter die in the ring, an amazing record considering the type of fighting they perform. Pro wrestling and boxing cannot make the same claim, but I still realize that mixed martial arts as a legitimate sport that is still in its infancy.

Here is a brief history of the UFC in the USA.

Ultimate Fighting Championship is a “United States"-based “Mixed_martial_arts" organization. Fighters in the “Sport" use combinations of “Brazilian_Jiu_Jitsu", “Boxing", “Wrestling", Muay_Thai", and many other “Martial_arts". The UFC is currently owned and operated by Zuffa Entertainment, LLC.

Early UFC events were eight- or sixteen-man tournaments conducted by the organization Semaphore Entertainment Group (SEG) wherein participants were required to beat three opponents in a single evening to be crowned Ultimate Fighting Champion. Reportedly no other event matched fighters of different style to prove which style is the best. Fighters were typically skilled in one discipline only (for example Boxing", Judo", Jiu_Jitsu") and had little experience in battling against opponents with different skills of their own. With no weight classes, fighters could find themselves facing opponents who were significantly larger and taller than themselves. These factors combined led to a trend of short, violent fights. This was very much in line with the way the UFC was being marketed at the time. "There are no rules!" said the famous tagline. Although not strictly true, the UFC did operate with a limited set of rules; techniques such as hair pulling and groin strikes were frowned upon, but allowed. How the rules were enforced: should a competition rule be violated, the competitor who broke the rule was fined $1000.

The brutal nature of the burgeoning sport quickly drew the attention of the authorities and UFC events were banned in almost all American states. To survive, the UFC redesigned its rules to remove the less palatable elements of fights, while still retaining the core elements of striking and grappling. Five minute rounds, Referee stoppages, weight classes and limitations on permissible striking areas gradually found the UFC being rebranded as a sport rather than a violent circus attraction.

Through this event the term MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) was coined.

Today, Ultimate Fighting Championship events have become popular in places like Japan", Brazil", Canada", and the United_States", where fights are often seen on Television"'s Pay_Per_View" system as well as the occasional appearance on Spike_TV". In the United States, championship fights are usually held in Las_Vegas" or Atlantic_City", much like in boxing.

In 2005 the UFC launched its own reality TV series, The_Ultimate_Fighter" on Spike TV, in which MMA practitioners who had not yet appeared in the UFC would reside and train together in two teams, and fight one another in matches where the loser would be eliminated and eventually one fighter from each of two weight classes would be awarded a contract. A second series launched in August of the same year.The UFC is the cream of the crop for MMA but there are smaller sanctioned organizations and shows being formulated every year since the UFC’s inception. Boxing instructors, wrestling coaches and instructors, and martial arts teachers are loosely banning together to teach these young men who enjoy participating in the sport.

After enjoying the Ultimate Fighter 1 and the Ultimate Fighter 2, the last two seasons. I propose that boxing and MMA professionals should merger for bigger projects which would reward them more earnings. Not the sanctioning fighting organizations, but the teachers, trainers and club owners. The trainers has had a head start in merging with MMA and their businesses, but the boxing club owners should welcome the association with mixed martial arts and even add its influence to the growth their sport.

The owners do not have to go to Brazil to find good Ju Jitsu teachers or Sombo instructors. There are plenty here in the US. Boxing club owners can make deals with martial artists and grapplers to have their students or staff members teach in their boxing clubs.

Boxing is still the richest of the fighting sports with purses up to 100 million dollars being split by two combatants. But the MMA is steadily growing and the purses are now exceeding over a million dollars in a few cases.

Boxing is here forever, but as MMA grows on cable TV, the purses and the interest will increase. There is a lot that MMA has to offer and just like the supermarkets and the fast food franchises, it does not hurt to have a variety of activities to help your business grow.

Merge with the MMA because like the stock market; the value of the mixed martial arts continues to soar.