1. BJJ began in the early 1900’s and was started by its founder Esai Maeda.
2. Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a combat sport that mainly focuses on grappling and ground fighting techniques.
3. It is believed that this technique started in Japan as it is a direct descendant of Judo.
4. Jiu(ju) is a Japanese word that means “ gentleness” and Jitsu(jutsu) means “art” so basically jiu-jitsu can be translated as “gentle art”.
5. This technique was developed to be used as a form of weaponless method of defense by Samurai warriors.
6. Modern day Brazilian Jiu-jitsu’s creators was said to be the Gracie’s, Helio and Carlos. Whereas Carlos Gracie was the first to study BJJ and have been taught by Mitusyo Maeda, the student of Judos founder. But the one who adjusted the technique was Helio to suit his small body frame.
7. BJJ can also be used by smaller persons to defend themselves against larger opponents by using proper techniques.
8. Though it has some stand-up moves, BJJ is more destructive on ground fighting techniques.
9. Gracie family promoted the effectiveness of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu against other styles of martial arts by creating the Ultimate Fighting Championship or UFC.
10. Helios youngest son, Royce was the first UFC Champion when he defeated Art Jimmerson.
11. Combat sport BJJ focuses on winning without throwing strikes to the opponent.
12. Famous actor Mel Gibson was once taught BJJ techniques by Rorion Gracie. These techniques were used on his movies like Lethal Weapon.
13. BJJ practitioners are using uniforms similar to a judogi but with tighter cuffs on the pants and jackets.
14. Like any other disciplines in the world, BJJ is also using belts with different colors to signify the rank and skill of a certain BJJ fighter.
15. Though there are many registered BJJ federations in the world, the first Jiu-Jitsu federation was the Jiu-Jitsu Federation of Guanabara.
16. The most distinguished federation are the Sport Jiu Jitsu Internation Federation (non profit) and the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (profit) that both holds a number of tournaments around the world.

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The common disciplines of MMA are listed below:

• Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

BJJ or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is the most common skill every MMA fighter has. The reason for its popularity is because BJJ is very useful on taking submissions from the opponent. This fighting style is more on ground fighting and submissions like arm locks, foot locks and chokes. BJJ can be use also by the fighters on the bottom to do a reverse and gain a dominant position to the opponent.

• Muay Thai

Muay Thai originated in Thailand and has a similar style to kickboxing. This style includes striking using eight points of contact and clinching when fighting with the opponent. Normally, the strikes in Muay Thai are punching, kicking, knees and elbows. Strikes in Muay Thai are so strong that it can knockout the opponent sometimes when being executed properly and hit a vital body part of the opponent.

• Boxing

Most of us already know what boxing is because is one of the most popular combat sports in the world today. This sport involves fighting that only allows the use of fists on striking/hitting in an attempt to knock out the opponent. Boxing is commonly used by many MMA fighters as their primary way of attacking the opponent. This also serves as a basic skill of every MMA fighter.

• Wrestling

Wrestling is considered as one of the oldest combat sports in the world dating from the old ancient Greece civilization. Those times it was used by ancient gladiators in fighting as a way of entertainment. There are two types of wrestling, freestyle wrestling that originated in Great Britain and Greco-roman wrestling that comes from France. But the most commonly used is the freestyle wrestling. Wrestling is a combat sport that involves grappling in fighting. The only goal is to pin/takedown the opponent to win the bout and this technique is very useful in an MMA fight as this scores the highest points.

• Judo

Judo is a fighting style that originated in Japan in 1882. It has 3 main skills that are very useful in MMA fighting. These are the throws, takedowns, and grappling. If being mastered, Judo can be very helpful on winning the fight in an instant.

• Kyokushin Karate

You can normally see in an MMA fight that a fighter sometimes kick his opponent directly to the head or on the other part of the body. The kicking techniques by an MMA fighter are mostly learned through Kyokushin Karate. A very helpful technique to gain distance advantage to the opponent.

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Today, ONE Championship is Asia’s largest sports media property with a global broadcast to over one billion homes in 118 countries according to CNBC. Its popularity is increasing rapidly because of its partnership with FOX and Star Sports for an unprecedented 10-year cable television deal with a coverage that spans 70+ countries across the world. Some of the notable fighters of ONE Championship include Shinya Aoki, Bibiano Fernandes, Ben Askren, Roger Gracie, Brandon Vera, Jadamba Narantungalag and Jens Pulver.

All types of martial arts are allowed in ONE Championship as long as the fighter follows their rules. Asia is widely known as the birthplace of many famous martial arts that is why many fighters have their own unique style of fighting. Even if it is Karate, Muay Thai, Kung Fu, Silat, Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Kali, Shuai Jiao and Aikido, these are all allowed in the competition.

Rules

ONE Championship™ uses the Global MMA Rule Set which blends a combination of Best Practices from Asian and Non-Asian Rules.

Bout Duration

Each bout will be 3 rounds x 5 minutes per round with a 1 minute break in between rounds.

Championship bouts will be 5 rounds x 5 minutes per round with a 1 minute break in between rounds.

Ways to Win

A victory is attained by one of the following ways:

• Knockout
• Submission
• Verbal tapout
• Technical knockout by referee stoppage
• Cornerman requests a stoppage
• Decision

Decision Wins

In the event that a bout goes the distance, it will go to a judges’ decision.The 3 judges will score the bout in its entirety, not round-by-round. Judges will utilize the ONE judging criteria in descending order of importance to determine the winner of the bout.

ONE Judging Criteria:

• Near KO or Submission
• Damage (Internal, Accumulated, Superficial)
• Striking combinations and cage generalship (Ground control, Superior positioning)
• Earned takedowns or takedown defense
• Aggression

TECHNIQUES

Standing Techniques

Standing:

1) Striking including kicks, knees, punches, forearm and elbow strikes to the head, body and legs are allowed. With exception to illegal targets including

• Groin
• Throat
• Trachea
• Back of head, neck or spine
• Small joint manipulation

2) Clinching and standing submissions

3) Takedowns:

• All takedowns are legal but must not result in spiking or pile driver to the head or neck

Grounded Techniques

A fighter is considered grounded when they have any part of their body other than the soles of their feet touching the ground

• Punches, elbows, kicks and knee strikes to the head, body and legs
• Submissions
• Kicks to the head, body and legs
• Up-kicks to the head, body and legs
• Stomps to the body and legs

Illegal Techniques:

• Stomps to the head
• Head Butting
• Hair Pulling
• Eye Gouging
• Orifice Insertion
• Spitting
• Grabbing onto the cage fence

(source: http://onefc.com/)

Weight Classes

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Ultimate Fighting Championship or commonly known as UFC is a famous American mixed martial arts promotion company. It is the leading and also the largest MMA promotion in the world. UFC is based in United States but it produces many events across the globe. It has 10 weight divisions that follow the Unified Rules Of Mixed Martial Arts.

When Was UFC Started?

UFC started in 1993 as a professional mixed martial arts organization. The first UFC fight was held on November 12, 1993 at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado.

What Is The Purpose Of UFC?

The purpose of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is to determine what is the most effective martial arts in a fight. It is a fight with minimal rules and fighters who have different techniques or fighting disciplines. These fighting disciplines are like boxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, sambo, wrestling, Muay Thai, karate, judo and other styles across the globe. All fighters can use their own fighting techniques as long as he will follo
w the UFC rules.

Who Are The UFC Executives?

The UFC Executives are Frank Fertitta, Dana White and Lorenzo Fertittta. They purchased the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2001. Their goal is to make the mixed martial arts as the most popular sport in the world. Since their purchase of the UFC in 2001, they made it as the fastest-growing sports organization in the world. Today, UFC holds the record of being the largest live Pay-Per-View event provider in the world.

UFC Rules

The rules of the UFC were set by the New Jersey Athletic Control Board. These rules are called as the “Unified Rules Of Mixed Martial Arts”. Other states that regulated MMA adapted to these rules like Nevada, Louisiana and California. Many other MMA promotions also use these rules on facilitating their fights.

UFC Weight Divisions

• Strawweight up to 115 pounds
• Flyweight over 115 pounds to 125
• Bantamweight over 125 to 135 pounds
• Women’s Bantamweight over 125 to 135 pounds
• Featherweight over 135 to 145 pounds
• Lightweight over 145 to 155 pounds
• Welterweight over 155 to 170 pounds
• Middleweight over 170 to 185 pounds
• Light Heavyweight over 185 to 205 pounds
• Heavyweight over 205 to 265 pounds
• Super Heavyweight over 265 pounds

Important Note: Non-championship fights are allowed to have 1 pound weigh allowance. Championship fights should weigh no more than the allowed weight of their respective division.

UFC Champion Per Division

• FLYWEIGHT Champion : Demetrious Johnson
• BANTAMWEIGHT Champion : Dominick Cruz
• FEATHERWEIGHT Champion : Conor McGregor
• LIGHTWEIGHT Champion : Rafael Dos Anjos
• WELTERWEIGHT Champion : Robbie Lawler
• MIDDLEWEIGHT Champion : Michael Bisping
• LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT Champion : Daniel Cormier
• HEAVYWEIGHT Champion : Stipe Miocic
• WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT Champion : Joanna Jedrzejczyk
• WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT Champion : Miesha Tate

UFC Pound-For-Pound Fighters Ranking

1. Jon Jones
2. Demetrious Johnson
3. Dominick Cruz
4. Robbie Lawler
5. Rafael Dos Anjos
6. Conor McGregor
7. Daniel Cormier
8. Jose Aldo
9. Michael Bisping
10. Frankie Edgar
11. Stipe Miocic
12. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
13. Luke Rockhold
14. Chris Weidman
15. Fabricio Werdum

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Mixed Martial Arts or commonly known as MMA is a full-contact combat sport that allows the use of different fighting styles like boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, karate, Muay Thai, Vale Tudo, Brazilian Ju jitsu and other fighting styles throughout the world. It became so popular during the early 1900s.

The first regulated MMA league in the United States was created by CV Productions in 1980 and they named it as “Tough Guy Contest”. Later, it was named as “Battle Of The Superfighters” that sanctioned tournaments in Pennsylvania. But the bad news is in 1983 when the Pennsylvania State Senate pass a bill that prohibits this sport. Vale Tudo, a combat sport in Brazil that was developed in 1920s was then brought in United States by the Gracie Family in 1993. This event was then followed by the founding of the Ultimate Fighting Championship or UFC on the same year. This was establish for them to know what is the most effective Martial Arts for unarmed combat situations. This time, UFC is the most famous MMA league in the world. But there are other famous MMA leagues throughout the world also like Bellator MMA, Invicta Fighting Championship and ONE Championship (One FC).

Battle Of The MMA Fighters

The MMA battle takes place on a close ring or a cage with no equipments. They are only wearing shorts and a thin MMA gloves. No other equipment needed and they are just barefoot during the match. The fighters are allowed to use their own fighting techniques. They can punch, kick and grab just to knockout their opponent and win the match. This battle style was from the origin of MMA, the Vale Tudo that has an English meaning of “anything goes”.
There are some rules on MMA that is similar to Boxing and Wrestling. The fighter has 3 ways to win the match. Fighter can win by knocking out the opponent so that he will be unable to continue the match anymore. A fighter can also win by holding the opponent and forcing to submission. The last way is to finish the fight and win by the judges’ decision. The judges’ decision can be unanimous or a split decision. If the decision is split then the majority of the decision will be the final one. 
MMA has 10 weight classes according to the Unified Rules. These weight classes are listed below.

MMA Weight Classes

• Strawweight – up to 115 lb (52.2 kg; 8.2 st)

• Flyweight – up to 125 lb (56.7 kg; 8.9 st)

• Bantamweight – up to 135 lb (61.2 kg; 9.6 st)

• Featherweight – up to 145 lb (65.8 kg; 10.4 st)

• Lightweight – up to 155 lb (70.3 kg; 11.1 st)

• Welterweight – up to 170 lb (77.1 kg; 12.1 st)

• Middleweight – up to 185 lb (83.9 kg; 13.2 st)

• Light Heavyweight – up to 205 lb (93.0 kg; 14.6 st)

• Heavyweight – up to 265 lb (120.2 kg; 18.9 st)

• Super Heavyweight – N/A

Note: 1 lb grace limit is allowed to non-title bouts.
Some leagues have different weight classes but most leagues are following the Unified Rules for the weight classes. The ring or cage of the Mixed Martial Arts fight differs on each league. Some are circle shape, some are 8 sided, 9 sided, 6 sided and there are some cages also that are just the same with the boxing ring. But even there are many MMA leagues in the world and they are different from one another, the contest is still the same. That is to win and to be the best on an MMA cage. No matter what fighting style you have as long as you will follow the rules.

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