Short answers, pulled from the story.
The first Ultimate Fighting Championship event took place on the 12th of November 1993 at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado. Art Davie and Rorion Gracie pitched a tournament to find the most effective martial art with no weight classes or time limits.
The Fertitta brothers purchased the organization for two million dollars in January 2001 creating Zuffa LLC. They secured sanctioning in Nevada shortly after taking ownership and returned to cable television with UFC 33 featuring three championship bouts.
Spike TV launched The Ultimate Fighter 1 in January 2005 following WWE Raw with a six-figure contract prize for winners. Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar fought in the season finale drawing a 1.9 overall rating that saved the company from bankruptcy.
Zuffa purchased Pride Fighting Championships on the 27th of March 2007 but folded the Japanese organization due to toxic associations with yakuza groups. Former Pride fighters including Wanderlei Silva and Dan Henderson realigned under the UFC brand while twenty employees lost their jobs at the Tokyo office.
TKO reached agreement to settle all claims for three hundred thirty-five million dollars on the 20th of March 2024 though Judge Richard Boulware later ruled the case would be heard by jury resetting trial date to October 28.
Endeavor merged with WWE on the 12th of September 2023 forming TKO Group Holdings valued at twelve point one billion dollars. Vince McMahon served as executive chairman before resigning the 26th of January 2024 following a sex trafficking lawsuit filed by Janel Grant.