Short answers, pulled from the story.
The UFC was founded by businessman Art Davie, martial artist Rorion Gracie, and film director John Milius, with backing from Semaphore Entertainment Group CEO Bob Meyrowitz, President David Isaacs, and Head of Programming Campbell McLaren. The first event was held on the 12th of November 1993, at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado.
Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta purchased the UFC in January 2001 for $2 million, forming Zuffa, LLC as the controlling entity. Along with the trademark, they acquired a wooden octagon and roughly a dozen fighter contracts.
The Ultimate Fighter was a reality television series featuring up-and-coming MMA fighters competing for a six-figure UFC contract. It launched on Spike TV in January 2005, with the UFC paying the $10 million production costs itself. The season finale drew a 1.9 overall rating, and Dana White credits the show with saving the UFC from financial collapse.
In July 2016, Zuffa was sold to a group led by WME-IMG, along with Silver Lake Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, and MSD Capital, for $4.025 billion. At the time, it was the largest acquisition in sports history. WME-IMG later renamed itself Endeavor.
In August 2025, the UFC announced a seven-year, $7.7 billion media rights agreement with Paramount Skydance. Under the deal, all UFC events stream exclusively on Paramount+ in the United States, with selected numbered events also broadcast on CBS. The UFC will exit the pay-per-view model for numbered events entirely.
In 1996, Senator John McCain called UFC events "human cockfighting" and wrote to the governors of all fifty states urging them to ban the sport. Thirty-six states enacted laws against no-holds-barred fighting, and New York passed its ban on the eve of UFC 12, forcing that event to relocate to Dothan, Alabama. The UFC responded by adopting weight classes, mandatory gloves, and other rule changes that eventually led to state-by-state sanctioning.