MMA: The UFC at 25 - from a rag-tag crew fighting for US$50k in 1993 to a billion-dollar production in 24 countries today

DENVER (Colorado) - Almost exactly 25 years ago (Nov 12, 1993), the first Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event took place.

But it was far from the polished mixed martial arts (MMA) production it is today.

In fact, even its creators - Brazilian jiu-jitsu expert Rorion Gracie and businessman Art Davie - did not know what it truly was. After all, there was no "MMA" then.

At UFC 1, there were no weight classes, no time limits in fights, and only three rules: no eye-gouging, no biting, and no groin strikes.

The only thing that resembled the UFC of today was the trademark Octagon cage - inspired by the arena in which Conan the Barbarian fought as a gladiator in the 1982 movie.

But the allure of finding the answer to the age-old question of which fighting style is most effective was enough. It made the first show, staged in the now torn-down McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado, a hit.

A slim Brazilian man wearing a gi named Royce Gracie claimed the US$50,000 (S$69,000) prize purse in the eight-man tournament that featured a professional boxer, a taekwondo fighter, kickboxer and a sumo wrestler, among others.

Rorion would later reveal: "We expected to sell 40,000 pay-per-views with that first edition and sold 85,000. After that, we sold 120,000.

"It grew fast. By the second or third pay-per-view (PPV), Forbes called the UFC the most successful franchise in pay-per-view history."

Tonight, the UFC will stage Fight Night 139 - its 456th event - at the Pepsi Arena in Denver, to commemorate its 25th anniversary.

While its first show was held in Colorado partly because the state was one of the few in America that allowed fighting without rules, the UFC has since held shows in 147 cities in 24 countries, including Singapore.

But the company's growth was not always in an upward trajectory.

Still banned in many states at the turn of the millennium, the UFC was purchased by businessman brothers Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta for US$2 million in 2001. They installed Dana White as president.

But the lean years continued, with the company having to fight the reputation of promoting "human cockfighting", as put by its critics, including former US presidential nominee John McCain.

That was, until 2005, when the UFC launched a reality TV show called The Ultimate Fighter, which culminated in a classic bout between Forrest Griffin and Patrick Bonnar.

With the UFC on the brink of folding, the show - which quashed the perception that MMA fighters were simply street thugs - and its drama-filled finale, changed the course of the company.

In 2016, White even called it the most important fight in the UFC's history. "Someone was going to want this (the UFC)," he said. "This thing was on a roll, this thing can't be stopped."

Veteran Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone, who faces Mike Perry tonight in the co-main event of Fight Night 139, also singled the fight out as his most enjoyable UFC moment. "That was just an iconic fight, one that put this sport on the map," said the 35-year-old welterweight, who is tied with Georges St Pierre and Michael Bisping with the most UFC wins (20).

The Griffin-Bonnar fight brought the UFC to mainstream America. A year later, the UFC crossed a million PPV buys for the first time. Within five years, it crossed 1.5 million buys.

Last month's UFC 229 event, headlined by brash Irish knockout artist Conor McGregor and intense Russian grappler Khabib Nurmagomedov, the company posted 2.4 million PPV buys.

Only two other sporting events - boxer Floyd Mayweather's bouts against Filipino star Manny Pacquaio and McGregor - scored a greater number of buys in the last decade.

As the sport and UFC has grown, so have fighter's salaries.

McGregor, the UFC's biggest draw, has fought his last three bouts for an assured sum of US$3 million, before bonuses. His rivals, Nurmagomedov and Nate Diaz, picked up cool US$2 million pay packets after fights against him.

Even lesser-acclaimed fighters appearing on Fight Night and pay-per-view events often earn salaries of between US$50,000 and $200,000.

And this is before Performance of the Night and Fight of the Night bonuses, which are worth $50,000 each.

In 2016, Endeavor purchased UFC for just over US$4 billion. Last year, it signed a stateside TV deal with ESPN worth US$1.5 billion.

Despite being the juggernaut in MMA, the UFC still has challengers.

Singapore-based promotion One Championship, for example, made waves recently by opening up its chequebook to sign former UFC champions Eddie Alvarez and Demetrious Johnson to its roster, before installing a former UFC women's champion, Miesha Tate, as its vice-president.

Yet there is no doubt that, for now at least, the UFC remains the platform fighters from all over the world aspire to be on.

Mexican lightweight fighter Yair Rodriguez, who faces "Korean Zombie" Jung Chan-sung in Fight Night 139's main event, told The Straits Times about how he grew up in the sleepy town of Parral dreaming to be in the UFC.

Eyes lighting up, the 26-year-old said: "As a kid, almost every day, I used to go to my neighbour's house and we would watch UFC videos on YouTube - which was new then - on the computer, and afterwards we would fight in the backyard of his house.

"I remember thinking that it was impossible to be one of those guys (a UFC fighter), but now I'm here, I know it was meant to be."