MMA Family Tree Timeline: The Roots of Mixed Martial Arts History
The History of MMA Mixed Martial Arts
| Endeavor Era | 2017 | 4 billion dollar price tag | connor mcgregor | ||||
| Mainstream | 2005 | Ultimate Fighter on Spike saves UFC | |||||
| UFC-Zuffa Era | 2001 | monetized it | |||||
| Pride | 1997 | Competition to UFC | |||||
| UFC-SEG Era | 1995 | refined it | |||||
| UFC- WOW Era | 1993 | global introduction | Gracie Jiu-Jitsu explosion | ||||
| Pancrase | 1992 | hybrid of pro wrestling and mma | |||||
| Shooto | 1986 | shoot wrestling hybrid | Sayama Satoru | ||||
| Tough Guy Law | 1983 | PA Senate Bill 632 Outlaws mixed martial arts | |||||
| Tough Guys | 1979 | Birth of American MMA sport/league | 1980 Pennsylvania Senate Bill 632 Outlaws MMA (Tough Guy Law) | ||||
| Ali vs Inoki | 1976 | Boxer vs Wrestler reemerge | |||||
| Bruce Lee | Early 1970s | Enter The Dragon boom | |||||
| Gene LeBell vs Milo Savage | 1963 | First televised mixed-fight | |||||
| Vale Tudo | 1920s | mixed-fights sideshows popular around the world | |||||
| Mitsuyo Maeda | 1914 | Prize fighting Judoka settles in brazil. Teaches the Gracies Judo who morph it into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu | |||||
| Karate & Judo spread | turn of century | ||||||
| Pankration | 648 BC | ||||||
| Dawn of mankind | indigenous forms of hand to hand combat fighting develops around the world | ||||||
| Roots of MMA | |||||||
Mixed Martial Arts Family Tree
| 2,000+ years ago | – Leitai | |
| – Pankration | ||
| Late 19th century | – Hybrid martial arts | |
| – Catch wrestling | ||
| Late 1880s | – Early NHB and Mixed Style contests | |
| 1899 | – Barton-Wright and Bartitsu | |
| Early 1900s | – Merikan contests | |
| 1920s | – Early vale tudo and Gracie Challenge | |
| 1951 | – Masahiko Kimura vs. Hélio Gracie | |
| 1950s–1960s | – Hong Kong rooftop street fights | |
| 1960s–1970s | – Bruce Lee and Jeet Kune Do | |
| 1976 | – Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki | |
| 1970s | – Antonio Inoki and Ishu Kakutōgi Sen | |
| 1979 | – First Mixed Martial Arts Company in America CV Productions Inc. | |
| 1980 | – First MMA League in America Tough Guys | |
| 1983 | – First Bill to Outlaw MMA Tough Guy Law | |
| 1985 | – Shooto forms | |
| 1989 | – First professional Shooto event | |
| 1991 | – First Desafio (BJJ vs. Luta Livre) event | |
| 1993 | – Pancrase forms | |
| 1993 | – UFC forms | |
| Mid/Late 1990s | – International Vale Tudo | |
| 1997–2007 | – PRIDE FC and UFC era | |
| 1999 | – International Sport Combat Federation founded as first sanctioning body of MMA | |
| 2000 | – New Jersey SACB develops Unified Rules | |
| 2001 | – Zuffa buys UFC | |
| 2005 | – The Ultimate Fighter debuts | |
| 2005 | – US Army begins sanctioning MMA | |
| 2006 | – UFC dominance and international growth | |
| 2006 | – Zuffa buys WFA and WEC | |
| 2006 | – UFC 66 generates over a million PPV buys | |
| 2007 | – Zuffa buys PRIDE FC | |
| 2008 | – EliteXC: Primetime gains 6.5 million peak viewers on CBS | |
| 2009 | – Strikeforce holds 1st major card with female main event | |
| 2011 | – WEC merged with UFC | |
| 2011 | – Zuffa buys Strikeforce | |
| 2011 | – UFC on Fox gains 8.8 million peak viewers on Fox | |
| 2012 | – International Mixed Martial Arts Federation was founded with support from UFC | |
| 2016 | – WMG/WME-IMG buys UFC for US$4 billion | |
| 2017 | – WMG/WME-IMG changed its holding name to Endeavor | |
| 2021 | – WMG/WME-IMG listed its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under symbol EDR |
