The Ultimate Fighting Championship, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States, annually hosts UFC pay-per-views, Fight Nights, and TUF Finales.
The UFC’s first event, UFC 1, took place on the 12th of November, 1993 and since then UFC has been traditionally hosting UFC PPVs and other events. Each UFC event contains several fights and these fight cards start off with preliminary card followed by the main card. The second last fight on the card is known as the co-main event and the last fight is known as the main event. By the end of a UFC event, vital UFC News surrounding the fights take the internet by storm.
The UFC Schedule is separated into seven different formats:
- UFC Pay-Per-Views
- UFC on ESPN
- UFC on Fox
- UFC Fight Nights
- The Ultimate Fighter Finale
- UFC on FX
- UFC on Fuel TV
- UFC Live
In 2019, UFC has hosted a total of 23 events thus far, including seven pay-per-views. The likes of Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones, Featherweight Champion Max Holloway, and Flyweight Champion Henry Cejudo have all featured in UFC main events this year.
What are UFC pay-per-views?
UFC PPVs are a type of pay television service which allows a viewer to purchase events to view via their private televisions. UFC pay-per-views usually feature one (or more) title fight(s) as the event’s respective co-main and main event.
The first UFC pay-per-view, UFC 1: The Beginning, was held on the 12th of November, 1993 at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado. The attendance for UFC 1 was estimated at 7,800 with a total buyrate of 86,000.
The main event of UFC 1 featured Royce Gracie and Gerard Gordeau with Gracie winning the fight via rear-naked choke submission within 1.44 seconds of the fight.
The highest live attendance in UFC history belongs to UFC 193: Rousey vs Holm, as 56,214 people filled the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia.
Here are the overall top 5 highest live attendance in UFC history:
- UFC 193: Rousey vs Holm (56,214)
- UFC 129: Georges St.Pierre vs Jake Shields (55,274)
- UFC 198: Fabricio Werdum vs Stipe Miocic (45,207)
- UFC 124: Georges St. Pierre vs Josh Koscheck 2 (23,152)
- UFC 97: Redemption (21, 451)
Here are the top 5 US highest live attendance in UFC history:
- UFC 205: Eddie Alvarez vs Conor McGregor (20,427)
- UFC 229: Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Conor McGregor (20,034)
- UFC 171: Johny Hendricks vs Robbie Lawler (19,324)
- UFC 68: Timothy Sylva vs Randy Couture (19,049)
- UFC 203: Stipe Miocic vs Alistair Overeem (18,875)
The biggest gates in UFC history belongs to UFC 205: Alvarez vs McGregor at the Madison Square Garden which recorded a total gate of $17,700,000.
Here are the top 5 biggest gates in UFC history:
- UFC 205: Eddie Alvarez vs Conor McGregor ($17,700,000)
- UFC 229: Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Conor McGregor ($17,200,000)
- UFC 129: Georges St.Pierre vs Jake Shields ($12,075,000)
- UFC 200: Miesha Tate vs Amanda Nunes ($10,700,000)
- UFC 194: Jose Aldo vs Conor McGregor ($10,500,000)
Here are the top 5 highest Pay-Per-View buys in UFC history:
- UFC 229: Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Conor McGregor (2,400,000)
- UFC 202: Nate Diaz vs Conor McGregor (1,600,000)
- UFC 196: Conor McGregor vs Nate Diaz (1,317,000)
- UFC 100: Brock Lesnar vs Frank Mir (1,300,000)
- UFC 205: Eddie Alvarez vs Conor McGregor (1,300,000)
Here are the top 5 highest Pay-Per-View buys for a non-championship main event:
- UFC 202: Nate Diaz vs Conor McGregor (1,600,000)
- UFC 196: Conor McGregor vs Nate Diaz (1,317,000)
- UFC 114: Quinton Rampage Jackson vs Rashad Evans (1,050,000)
- UFC 141: Brock Lesnar vs Alistair Overeem (750,000)
- UFC 183: Anderson Silva vs Nick Diaz (650,000)
Here are the top 5 lowest Pay-Per-View buys in UFC history:
- UFC 42: Matt Hughes vs Sean Sherk (35,000)
- UFC 35: Jens Pulver vs B.J. Penn (35,000)
- UFC 45: Matt Hughes vs Frank Trigg (40,000)
- UFC 39: Randy Couture vs Ricco Rodriguez (40,000)
- UFC 38: Matt Hughes vs Carlos Newton (45,000)
Here are the top 5 fighters who spent most total fight time in the UFC:
- Frankie Edgar (7 h, 12 mins)
- Rafael Dos Anjos (6 h, 28 mins)
- Demian Maia (6 h, 18 mins)
- Diego Sanchez (6 h, 08 mins)
- Michael Bisping (6 h, 05 mins)
Here are the top 5 fighters who spent most total fight time in the UFC by division:
- Heavyweight: Roy Nelson (3 h, 22 mins)
- Light Heavyweight: Jon Jones (5 h, 11 mins)
- Middleweight: Michael Bisping (4 h, 58 mins)
- Welterweight: Georges St-Pierre (5 h, 28 mins)
- Lightweight: Gleison Tibau (4 h, 45 mins)
- Featherweight: Cub Swanson (3 h, 07 mins)
- Bantamweight: Urijah Faber (3 h, 29 mins)
- Flyweight: Demetrious Johnson (3h, 50 mins)
- Women’s Featherweight: Holly Holm (50 mins)
- Women’s Bantamweight: Miesha Tate (2 h, 05 mins)
- Women’s Flyweight: Valentina Shevchenko (1 h, 04 mins)
- Women’s Strawweight: Joanna Jedrzejczyk (2 h, 33 mins)
Here are the top 5 fighters who spent most total fight time in the UFC in title bouts:
- Jon Jones (4 h, 14 mins)
- Goerges St-Pierre (4 h, 14 mins)
- Demetrious Johnson (3 h, 45 mins)
- Randy Couture (3 h, 33 mins)
- B.J. Penn (3 h, 24 mins)
Here are the top 5 fighters who spent most total fight time in the UFC by division in most PPV main events:
- Randy Couture (18)
- Anderson Silva (17)
- Tito Ortiz (16)
- Jon Jones (14)
- Georges St-Pierre (13)
Here are the 5 fighters with the most wins in UFC:
- Donald Cerrone (23)
- Demian Maia (21)
- Jim Miller (20)
- Michael Bisping (20)
- Georges St-Pierre (20)
Here are the 5 fighters with the most wins in UFC as per divisions:
- Heavyweight: Andrei Arlovski (17)
- Light Heavyweight: Jon Jones (19)
- Middleweight: Michael Bisping (16)
- Welterweight: Georges St-Pierre (19)
- Lightweight: Jim Miller (19)
- Featherweight: Max Holloway (16)
- Bantamweight: T.J. Dillashaw (12)
- Flyweight: Joseph Benavidez, Demetrious Johnson (13)
- Women’s Featherweight: Cris Cyborg (4)
- Women’s Bantamweight: Amanda Nunes (10)
- Women’s Flyweight: Gillian Robertson, Valentina Shevchenko (4)
- Women’s Strawweight: Joanna Jedrzejczyk (9)
Here are the 5 fighters with the most wins in UFC in a title fight:
- Jon Jones (13)
- Georges St-Pierre (13)
- Demetrious Johnson (12)
- Anderson Silva (11)
- Matt Hughes (9)
- Randy Couture (9)
Here are the 5 fighters with the highest win percentage in the UFC:
- Khabib Nurmagomedov (100%)
- Kamaru Usman (100%)
- Jon Jones (95%)
- Tony Ferguson (93.75%)
- Daniel Cormier (91.67%)
- Amanda Nunes (91.67%)
- Colby Covington (91.67%)
Here are the most consecutive win streaks in the UFC:
- Anderson Silva (16)
- Jon Jones (13)
- Demetrious Johnson (13)
- Goerges St-Pierre (13)
- Max Holloway (13)
Here are the 5 most finishes in UFC history:
- Donald Cerrone (16)
- Vitor Belfort (14)
- Anderson Silva (14)
- Frank Mir (13)
- Matt Hughes (13)
- Joe Lauzon (12)
Here are the 5 most finishes in title bouts in UFC history:
- Anderson Silva (9)
- Matt Hughes (8)
- Demetrious Johnson (7)
- Ronda Rousey (6)
- Jon Jones (6)
Here are the 5 most fastest finishes in UFC history:
- Jorge Masvidal (5 seconds vs Ben Askren)
- Duane Ludwig (6 seconds vs Jonathan Goulet)
- Chan Sung Jung (6 seconds vs Mark Hominick)
- Todd Duffee (7 seconds vs Tim Hague)
- Ryan Jimmo (7 seconds vs Anthony Perosh)
Here are the 5 most fastest finishes in title bouts in UFC history:
- Conor McGregor (13 seconds vs Jose Aldo)
- Ronda Rousey (14 seconds vs Cat Zingano)
- Andrei Arlovski (15 seconds vs Paul Buentillo)
- Ronda Rousey (16 seconds vs Alexis Davis)
- Frank Shamrock (16 seconds vs Kevin Jackson)
Here are the 5 most latest finishes in UFC history:
- Demetrious Johnson (4.59 seconds vs Kyoji Horiguchi)
- Yair Rodriguez (4.59 seconds vs Chan Sung Jung)
- Frankie Edgar (4.56 seconds vs Cub Swanson)
- Demetrious Johnson (3.43 seconds vs John Moraga)
- Miesha Tate (3.30 seconds vs Holly Holm)
Here are the 5 most latest finishes in title bouts in UFC history:
- Demetrious Johnson (4.59 seconds vs Kyoji Horiguchi)
- Demetrious Johnson (3.43 seconds vs John Moraga)
- Miesha Tate (3.30 seconds vs Holly Holm)
- Anderson Silva (3.10 seconds vs Chael Sonnen)
- Cain Velasquez (3.09 seconds vs Junior Dos Santos)
What are UFC Fight Nights?
UFC Fight Night events are the shows which are produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship and these shows can generally be seen on TV. The events are aired on ESPN and ESPN+. Usually, the UFC Fight Night cards feature lower-ranked fighters on the card and are not considered as ‘strong’ as UFC pay-per-views. However, despite not featuring ‘strong’ fight cards, there are vital UFC News which revolve around these Fight Night events. The UFC Fight Night events are generally commentated on by Kenny Florian and Jon Anik.
The first Ultimate Fight Night event took place on August 6th, 2005 (billed as Ultimate Fight Night 1) featured a main event between Nate Marquardt and Ivan Salaverry, with the former coming out victorious via decision.
Through 2011-2018, the UFC aired Fight Night events on Fox Sports (billed as UFC on Fox) after agreeing to a seven-year deal with them in August of 2011. Throughout the deal, the UFC aired programs including UFC Fight Night, Road to the Octagon, and The Ultimate Fighter. The broadcast partnership between Fox and the UFC ended at by the end of 2018, as the UFC agreed to a new deal with ESPN that began in January of 2019.
UFC on Fox 1 (November 12, 2011) featured a UFC Heavyweight Championship main event between Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos, with the latter coming out victorious via first-round KO and winning the title. Throughout the years, the UFC has also featured notable fighters on these UFC on Fox cards, including the likes of Nate Diaz, current Women’s Flyweight Champion Valentina Shevchenko, Robbie Lawler, and current Interim Lightweight Champion Dustin Poirier.
On February 17, 2018, the UFC aired their first event on ESPN, featuring the main event between Francis Ngannou and Cain Velasquez (who also main evented the first UFC on Fox event). Ngannou defeated Velasquez via first-round KO.
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