10 Crazy Facts About UFC 1

9. The Minimal Rules

These days, the world of MMA is a vastly different beast to what it was back in 1993 when UFC 1 took place.

Whereas nowadays there are rightly many rules and regulations in place for MMA companies and their fighters, things were a little more free ‘n’ easy back in the early days.

For UFC 1, the fights had pretty much three basic rules – no nut shots, no biting, and no eye gouging. Other than that, everything was fair game. And likewise, there were no weight classes whatsoever, and there was no such thing as rounds or a time limit. That essentially meant that fights would just continue on until somebody was knocked out or submitted.

Luckily, the longest fight at UFC 1 only lasted 4 minutes 20 seconds – Kevin Rosier vs. Zane Frazier – but the UFC 5 main event of Ken Shamrock vs. Royce Gracie went 36 minutes before it was declared a draw after both men refused to quit despite being exhausted.

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