10 Crazy Facts About UFC 1

6. The Solitary Boxing Glove

For those who’ve never seen UFC 1, to go back and watch it conjures up memories of the classic Street Fighter II video game. As in, some of these fighters were purely all about one single way of fighting.

One such fighter, of course, was Art Jimmerson.

Jimmerson was a veteran boxer who had never really hit the big time throughout his career. Supposedly, he didn’t even realise what he signed up for when he decided to partake in UFC 1 – although he was sweetened with a $15,000 payday.

In terms of fighting style, Art was simply a straight-up boxer. He couldn’t kick, he couldn’t grapple, he didn’t have any ground skills. The dude could punch, and that was that.

Bizarrely though, he turned up to UFC 1 wearing one solitary boxing glove for his first round fight against Royce Gracie. To this day, nobody actually knows exactly why Jimmerson decided on just the one glove – with some claiming that the fighter was so scared of having a bone broken that he wanted a non-gloved hand so that it would be clear to see if he was tapping out.

And tap out Art Jimmerson did, as Gracie submitted him barely two minutes into their fight.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer and Presenter, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.