10 Crazy Facts About UFC 1
3. No Verification Process
When the idea of creating the Ultimate Fighting Championship and doing what would become known as UFC 1 first came up, various forms of fighters from across the globe were encouraged to send in applications to compete at the first event.
A little naively, however, the UFC didn’t run any particular verification checks on said applicants, and simply took at face value what was on the applications they received.
While somebody like Ken Shamrock lived up to what he said he was and turned up looking a $1 million, that couldn’t be said for everybody. Case in point: Kevin Rosier.
By the time of UFC 1, Rosier was a journeyman fighter who specialised in kickboxing and boxing. While his kickboxing record was impressive, his boxing numbers had far more losses than wins. But what was most surprising about Rosier was how his appearance at UFC 1 varied from his appearance on his UFC 1 application.
On that application, the fighter included a picture of himself looking lean, muscled-up and weighing in at a tight 265 lbs. The Kevin Rosier who turned up at UFC 1, however, was over 300 lbs, had just come off root canal surgery that same week, and was even caught eating pizza and drinking beer in the gym by UFC officials.
To his credit, Rosier would defeat Zane Frazier before being stopped by Gerard Gordeau in the semi-finals of UFC 1.