UFC 1 took place on November 12, 1993, at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado. The event took on a tournament format, with most fighters competing multiple times on the same night as the eight participants were whittled down to the final two.
Although the event was billed as being ‘No-Holds-Barred,’ there were a couple of rules in place, such as no biting or eye-gouging. Other than that, it was pretty much ‘anything goes,’ with the fights having no judges, time limit, or weight classes. As part of the UFC’s 30th anniversary celebrations, the living stars of the organizations first ever-pay-per-view sat down and discussed their version of events.
UFC 1 Origins
It’s not uncommon for fighters to demand adequate time to prepare for a fight, considering how much is at stake for them: health, legacy, and reputation. During the Roundtable, Royce Gracie said that when the UFC first began, there were no training camps, and fighters didn’t ask for a period of time to get ready for battle; they just got told when they were fighting and they showed up, often on short notice.
UFC 1 was supposed to have more fighters competing on the card, but many of the athletes who were considered the best fighters in the world at that time didn’t wish to participate. Eight fighters agreed to take part, and they would go on to become pioneers of the sport as they competed in the organization’s first-ever event for an organization that would go on to become a multi-billion dollar business.
Recalling how his journey in the UFC began, Ken Shamrock was competing in Japan at the time but had a dojo based in California. One of Shamrock’s students had found a flyer for the first UFC event and showed it to him, explaining that it was a no-holds-barred fighting event where ‘anything goes.’ Shamrock initially dismissed his student’s attempts to get him to compete, mistakenly thinking the event was more akin to pro wrestling. After further persuasion and a realization this event would feature legitimate fighting, Shamrock was sold.
Shamrock’s first fight in the UFC was against Patrick Smith. Not being used to fighting barefoot, Shamrock struggled to gain the leverage required to take Smith down to the canvas. After adjusting his position, he spun his opponent around, took him down, and won via a heel hook submission. Shamrock’s victory in his debut on UFC 1 meant he progressed to the next round to fight Royce Gracie.
First-ever UFC fight
Shamrock’s win over Smith was the fourth fight on the UFC 1 card. Like the rest of the bouts, the first-ever UFC fight was at catchweight due to there being no weight classes. Gerard Gordeau fought Taylor Wily in the card’s opener and defeated him after just twenty-seven seconds. Wily attempted a takedown just a few seconds into the fight but was unsuccessful, and as he was about to get back to his feet, Gordeau landed a kick to the head followed by a right hand to the face. A cut opened up on the right eye of a dazed Wily, and although he felt that he could continue, the referee had seen enough and ended the fight.
One of the negatives of the sport being advertised as ‘no-holds-barred’ is that referee intervention becomes a grey area. As Wily was dazed by Gordeau, the referee intervened to assess the injured fighter. Gordeau raised a good point during the roundtable discussion that when the referee intervenes in any way (under the old rules) the fight should be stopped. Any break in the action gives a fighter a chance to recover and this would be an unfair advantage, seeing as there were no rounds or judges’ scorecards. If it’s truly a fight, once it’s stopped, it’s over – he argued.
The finishing sequence of the first-ever UFC fight will be hard to watch for many MMA fans due to Wily being grounded when Gordeau landed a kick to the face. We are now accustomed to seeing no leg strikes on a grounded opponent, which is now grounds for disqualification (as per Petr Yan vs. Aljamain Sterling at UFC 259.)
Rest of UFC 1 card
Royce Gracie, a Jiu-Jitsu pioneer, took on established boxer Art Jimmerson, who was riding a fifteen-fight win streak and was unbeaten in three years. Jimmerson came into the octagon wearing a boxing glove on his left hand and nothing on the other. Gracie gave his thoughts on what went through his head when he noticed Jimmerson’s unusual fight attire:
”When I came out and saw Art (Jimmerson) with one glove, I was like, ‘ok, there’s good and there’s bad.’ [The] good is, he cannot grab me with that hand; the bad is, he is confident enough to hit me with that glove to knock me out. That’s why I based myself a lot, stay away [from him] for a while, see if he’s [going to] come at me”.
Gracie decided to bide his time, and when he saw an opening, he executed a takedown and won the fight via smother choke submission.
Gerard Gordeau, who was sporting a broken hand as a result of his fight-ending punch on Taylor Wily earlier in the night, was determined to carry on fighting. His next fight on the card was against the late Kevin Rosier, who had defeated Zane Frazier by TKO in the second bout of the night.
Gordeau decided to keep his distance and attack Rosier with low kicks. After Rosier went to the ground, Gordeau struck him twice with his broken hand before deciding the pain was too much to bear, switching to using his elbow instead. The fight was stopped shortly after, and with two wins from two, he progressed to the tournament final against Royce Gracie.
UFC 1 Final
Gracie earned his spot in the final against Gerard Gordeau following a rear-naked choke win over Ken Shamrock, who had beaten Patrick Smith earlier in the night.
Looking across the cage at Gordeau, Gracie saw his injured opponent’s hand and foot both wrapped in tape. The nonchalant demeanor of Gordeau unsettled Gracie, as his earlier opponents on the night, Ken Shamrock and Art Jimmerson, both had anger in their faces and seemed really pumped up before the fight began.
Rather than going towards Gordeau, Gracie decided to stay back and observe his opponent. He eventually went for the takedown and succeeded, with Gordeau giving up his back. Gracie was bitten on the ear on the ground and landed a couple of headbutts on Gordeau before flipping him over onto his back and securing the victory with a rear-naked choke, winning the tournament and receiving the $50,000 prize money.
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