Feb 19, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Royce Gracie (red gloves) celebrates his TKO win against Ken Shamrock (not pictured) during their main event fight at Bellator 149 at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

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UFC 1: The Beginning- Who Was The Main Event At UFC 1?

UFC 1's main event saw Royce Gracie face Gerard Gordeau in a groundbreaking fight that changed the sport forever!

Back in 1993, when Boxing ruled the airwaves and martial arts were just thought of as a gimmick, something revolutionary happened in Denver, Colorado. The Ultimate Fighting Championship was born (with UFC 1 as its first event), though one commentator hilariously called it the “Ultimate Fighting Challenge” – a forgivable slip-up considering nobody quite knew what to make of this wild new sport.

Fast forward 30 years, and this has become one of the fastest-growing and most-watched sports in the world. Initially, different disciplines were pitted against each other. But now, every fighter knows everything, and the stakes are much higher.

Let’s take a look at the first UFC event, titled UFC 1, and the fighters featured on this historic card!

Also Read: Conor McGregor Vs. Logan Paul: A potential fight that can earn millions but seems too good to be true!

Who Was The Main Event At UFC 1?

Here’s the thing about UFC 1. It didn’t have a traditional main event. Instead, it featured an eight-man tournament where fighters from different martial arts backgrounds would duke it out to prove which style was best. Think of it as a real-life version of those playground arguments about whether a karate master could beat a boxer.

The tournament’s structure was beautifully simple yet completely crazy by today’s standards. Eight men would fight, winners would move on, and by the end of the night, one person would be crowned champion.

Old UFC clips won the poll

So I’m starting with one of my favorite visuals: Art Jimmerson with one boxing glove on vs Royce Gracie pic.twitter.com/eCOqYrA6xh
— Connoisseur of Combat (@ConOfCombat) April 16, 2020

The fighters were a colorful bunch: a sumo wrestler, a savate expert, a one-gloved boxer, and a quiet Brazilian in a white gi, among others. The participants were Royce Gracie, Art Jimmerson, Ken Shamrock, Kevin Rosier, Teila Tuli, Patrick Smith, Zane Frazier, and Gerard Gordeau.

Speaking of that one-gloved boxer, Art Jimmerson created one of the most unintentionally funny moments in UFC history. He showed up wearing a single boxing glove. The experiment didn’t work out well for him, and he tapped out as soon as Gracie took him down.

Who Won The UFC 1 Tournament?

But the real story of UFC 1 was Royce Gracie. At 176 pounds, he wasn’t the biggest or strongest fighter, but he had something nobody else knew how to handle: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. First, he submitted the confused one-gloved Jimmerson, then future Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock, and finally Gerard Gordeau in the finals.

The whole event was raw and unpolished compared to today’s UFC productions. There were no weight classes, barely any rules, and fights could only end by submission, knockout, or throwing in the towel. It was like the Wild West of martial arts!

When Royce Gracie became the first champ in UFC HISTORY! 🏆

Flashback to UFC 1 in 1993 for #UFC30Years

[ B2YB @UFCStrike ] pic.twitter.com/guhuSJUS4R
— UFC (@ufc) June 25, 2023

Gracie’s victory at UFC 1 that night didn’t just earn him $50,000 – it changed combat sports forever. He proved that technique could overcome size and strength and that the ground game was just as important as striking. The quiet Brazilian in the white gi had started a revolution, though nobody in the McNichols Sports Arena that night could have predicted just how big it would become.

(Image Credit: Troy Taormina- Imagn Images)

Art Jimmerson

Ken Shamrock

Royce Gracie

Zaid Quraishi

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I am a dedicated MMA and Boxing content writer at The Playoffs. I was instantly hooked on MMA after watching the fight between Lyoto Machida vs. Gegard Mousasi back in 2014, and since then, i have been an avid writer with a deep love for the sport and its techniques, providing readers with a thorough understanding of the sport. My favorite aspect of working at The Playoffs is the creative freedom it provides. The diverse range of topics, from listicles and SEO to news articles, keeps me engaged and motivates me to continuously improve my skills! I aim to capture the excitement of the combat sports world in my writing, acting as the middleman between fighters and their die-hard fans. It is kind of like a referee, but with words!