10 Crazy Facts About UFC 1

Not every UFC commentary team has been loved by every fight fan, yet it’s pretty unanimous that absolutely everybody who’s ever watched UFC 1 was left in cringed pain at the sounds of the UFC 1 commentary team.

On the call for that first UFC event were karate legend Bill Wallace, 5-time World Kickboxing Champion Kathy Long, and NFL Hall of Famer Jim Brown.

To be fair, on paper you’d think this could work quite well. Wallace is there to anchor the show with his expertise, Long is there to chime in with her own insight, and Brown is the guy serving almost as a colour commentator to lighten the mood and come at MMA with fresh eyes.

The problem is, all three were goddam awful as they stumbled through dialogue, constantly sounded confused, and generally had little idea of who the fighters were and what they brought to the table. None of the trio were great – or anywhere even close to ‘okay’ – but Bill Wallace took things to a whole other level of horrendous as he was clearly way out of his comfort zone.

In the trio's defence, the UFC was completely new and just trying to find its feet. But still, it’s hard to revisit UFC 1 and not wince at what you hear.