List of MMA Organizations
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is a U.S.-based mixed martial arts organization, currently recognized as the largest MMA promotion in the world.
The UFC began as a single-event tournament to find the world's best fighters irrespective of their style, and was based upon Brazilian vale tudo fighting. Although there were a few limited number of rules, fighting in the UFC was marketed as no holds barred, and contests were often violent and brutal. Early UFC fights were less sport than spectacle, which led to accusations of brutality and "human cock fighting" by Senator John McCain and others. Political pressures eventually led the UFC into the underground, as pay-per-view providers nixed UFC programming, nearly extinguishing the UFC's public visibility. As political pressure mounted, the UFC reformed itself, slowly embracing stricter rules, becoming sanctioned by state athletic commissions, and marketing itself as a legitimate sporting event. Dropping the no holds barred label and carrying the banner of mixed martial arts, the UFC has emerged from its political isolation to become more socially acceptable, regaining its position in pay-per-view television. With a cable television deal and expansion into Canada, Europe and new markets within the United States, the UFC is currently undergoing a remarkable surge in popularity, along with greater mainstream media coverage. UFC programming can now be seen on Spike in the United States and Canada, as well as in 34 other countries worldwide.
Dream is the largest MMA promotion in Japan. Featuring slightly different rules and a wide variety of fighters from around the world, it is no question that Dream is second only to the UFC in the MMA world. In America Dream is aired on HDNET.
Affliction Entertainment is a branch of the Affliction Clothing Company that has contracts on many of the best quality MMA heavyweights in the world. While not quite at the level of the UFC, Affliction seems to be the like mostly candidate to survive and thrive in the extremely harsh climate of MMA competition against the UFC. Affliction is financially backed by private investors, including the notable Donald Trump who attends the events.
World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion. It is the sister promotion to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The WEC uses the same rules as the UFC, but holds its matches in a smaller octagonal cage. Recently the WEC dissolved it's middle weight and light heavyweight divisions (as their heavyweight and super-heavyweight divisions were already dissolved in 2006) to even further its focus on the lighter weightclasses. Most of the fighters that were in the WEC migrated to the UFC's respective divisions.
Strikeforce (or Strikeforce Fighting Championship) is an American professional kickboxing and mixed martial arts promotion based in San Jose, California. Contests take place inside a six sided cage. Strikeforce debuted on March 10, 2006 with their event Shamrock Vs. Gracie. This event still holds the paid live attendance record for U.S. MMA events at 17,465 attendees.