8 Most Shocking UFC Plans That Almost Happened

UFC 1 marked the birth of mixed martial arts as a sport in the US and proved to be an unexpected pay-per-view hit, with its promise of a tournament that would determine the most effective martial art in a no-rules situation.

Now, of course, there were actually rules in the original event, and accusations have been made in the years that have followed that UFC 1 was as much an infomercial for the effectiveness of Gracie Jiu-jitsu as it was a legitimate inter-martial art competition. But, it's hard to deny that without its ultra-violent inception, MMA wouldn't be nearly as popular today, that is if it even existed.

But despite the seemingly straightforward concept of throwing guys in a cage with a threadbare ruleset, discussions held prior to the inaugural event could've added a variety of gimmicks to the show.

An idea bounced around before the event according to co-founder Rorion Gracie was to have a moat surrounding the cage infested with alligators, and the fence of the Octagon to be electrified.

Luckily, none of these outlandishly wacky ideas made the final cut, and UFC could move on from the spectacle-over-sport nature of the early events to the organisation we all know and love today.