Ufc 120 Betting Event Marks Long Journey In Mma Development

For youthful buffs of MMA it may be tough to imagine, but once upon a time, MMA and the UFC were outcasts. The sport began underground in the USA, having been brought to the states from Japan and Brazil where this kind of battle has been trendy for decades, and gradually morphed into a crude and embryonic UFC a long way away from what you are going to see at the UFC 120 odds event.

Back then there was no selling out stadiums, or holding the tournaments overseas, as with the UFC 120 wagering action in London. Back then the promoters were happy only to have the seats full and even picked smaller-sized venues so that there would not be empty seats on film.

And at that time - again, a very long way away from the worldwide buzz and demand for the UFC 120 odds event - there was no pay-per-view, no advertising and minimal promotion. If you needed to see the event you had to buy or rent the VHS video tape.

Yes, that's right, no pay-per-view and no DVDs or Spike TV. You had run down to the local video rental shop and ask the clerk if they had, or were planning to get, the UFC video cassette.

Competitors like Royce Gracie, Dan Severen and others were the original pioneers of the UFC tournaments in what seems like a entirely distinct sport than what we'll in the UFC 120 odds action. These people were essentially fighting for peanuts and a bit of pride whilst the modern day UFC athletes are millionaires and worldwide stars.

But there is no doubt that the sport has changed for the better. The fighters are greater, there's more talent in the competition pools and, best of all, UFC has skyrocketed into a worldwide sensation that showcases the top fighters in the world.

The UFC got its beginning back in the early 90s when Rorion Gracie, Art Davie and John Milius put together a competition showcasing no-holds-barred combat with fighters from several different backgrounds. They intended to turn the event into a tv franchise and got together a collection of investors and enlisted the support of the Semaphore Entertainment Group to broadcast the first competition.

The first UFC event, UFC 1, was put on at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver Colorado on November 12, 1993. It featured fighters with backgrounds in kickboxing, savate, boxing, karate, sumo wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. In fact, Rorion's younger brother, Royce Gracie, was in that first competition after being specially picked by Rorion to stand for his family and the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu style in the approaching event. UFC 1 was deemed a achievement when it drew close to 87,000 subscribers on pay-per-view. The UFC sought to answer queries like "Can a wrestler beat a boxer?"

Despite the fact that the UFC worked with the tagline "There are no rules!" at first, they actually did have a handful of rules. No biting or eye-gouging, and you weren't really supposed to (but may anyhow) use techniques like hair-pulling, headbutting, groin strikes and fish-hooking. Things have changed with the establishment of more stringent rules since then, however the UFC continues to be one of the most open kinds of battle that a competitor can participate in.

When the UFC 120 wagering action at last gets underway buffs ought to sit back and enjoy what they've got.