On November 12, 1993, the first UFC event was held at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado. Called simply The Ultimate Fighting Championship, it featured an eight-man tournament with no weight classes, no judges and no timeouts. Royce Gracie won the tournament by submitting Gerard Gordeau by rear naked choke.

As its first event to feature weight classes, UFC 12 also crowned the UFC's first heavyweight champion when Mark Coleman defeated Dan Severn by a neck crank.

When Frank Fertitta, Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta purchased the Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®) in 2001, the trio embarked on a journey to make mixed martial arts the world’s most popular sport.

UFC 33: Victory in Vegas was the first mixed martial arts event sanctioned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, under the Unified Rules of MMA. The UFC had arrived in the Fight Capital of the World.

Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell is the first UFC fighter to become a mainstream celebrity, breaking out with his highly anticipated first meeting with Tito Ortiz at UFC 47. Liddell won the fight at :38 seconds in the second round by KO.

The historic Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar fight in the first season drew millions of viewers to the show and launched MMA into the mainstream.

The ongoing series has produced many notable winners including Michael Bisping, Nate Diaz, Tony Ferguson, John Dodson, Kelvin Gastelum and many, many more.

This event served as an affirmation of UFC’s rapidly expanding international footprint with representatives from the United States, England, Brazil, Belarus, Croatia, Australia, France, Russia, Canada, and Italy.

Beginning at UFC 84 in May 2008, the Octagon was emblazoned with the Bud Light logo. At the time, Anheuser-Busch was the world's largest sports marketer, and the sponsorship brought the UFC shoulder-to-shoulder with major organizations like the NBA, the NFL and MLB.

At the time, UFC 100 was the most-bought UFC pay-per-view of all time until UFC 202 broke the record.

Stacked with stars like Brock Lesnar, Georges St-Pierre, Frank Mir, Dan Henderson, Michael Bisping and Jon Jones, the event cemented the UFC's arrival and celebrated the fastest rise to global prominence of any sport in history.

With their wild verbal sparring unsurpassed only by their fireworks in the Octagon at UFC 117 and then UFC 148, the venom between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen is still regarded as one of the all-time great rivalries in the sport.

On May 9, 2011, UFC becomes the first combat-sports promoter to offer accident insurance to all athletes competing inside the Octagon.

"We're not second class anymore. We're right up there with MLB and NFL. We're mainstream," said featherweight Frankie Edgar when the seven-year deal was announced.

The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes was filmed entirely outside of the United States, with a finale in Australia. It opened the door for similar international seasons in Brazil, China, Canada, Latin America and more.

Johnson defeated Joseph Benavidez at UFC 152 to claim the inaugural UFC flyweight title. He would go on to defend that title a record 11 consecutive times in his UFC career.

As UFC's profile grew, so did its appeal as a brand and a lifestyle. That popularity created a market for the UFC to open up gyms and sell merchandise, truly growing into something beyond a fighting promotion. The UFC was elevated to a lifestyle brand.

The headline bantamweight bout at UFC 157 between Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche was the first-ever women's fight in UFC history.

Conor McGregor's first fight in the UFC lasted a little more than a minute before knocking out Marcus Brimage. McGregor would go on to become one of the biggest stars in UFC history as well as the first two-division champion in the promotion's history. 

Digital streaming service UFC FIGHT PASS debuts, featuring the largest archive of MMA bouts as well as exclusive live events from promotions around the world. More than 16,000 fights are readily available on the streaming service.

 EA Sports UFC is released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and later releases mobile versions of the game. Royce Gracie and Bruce Lee were available as bonus fighters.

UFC signs a landmark six-year deal for Reebok to become UFC’s exclusive global athlete outfitter and apparel provider.

The Ultimate Fighter Season 20 is the first to feature only women fighters, and establishes the first women’s strawweight champion, Carla Esparza.

UFC announces its partnership with USADA to launch its UFC Anti-Doping Policy, the most comprehensive drug-testing program in professional sports.

UFC 193 in Melbourne, Australia becomes the highest-attended event in UFC history (56,214) and first UFC card headlined by two women’s title fights. In the co-main event, UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk defeated UFC strawweight Valerie Letourneau to retain the women’s stawweight title. In the main event, UFC bantamweight Holly Holm defeated UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey to capture the bantamweight title.

UFC breaks ground on a new corporate campus in Las Vegas, which includes the Performance Institute, a 30,000 square foot facility that offers athletes training and rehabilitation resources.

UFC announces five-year extension of partnership with Cleveland Clinic and its support of the Professional Fighters Brain Health Study.

 After a lengthy effort, UFC secures legalization of professional MMA in the state of New York and schedules its first event at iconic Madison Square Garden with three title fights.

 In July 2016, UFC is acquired by Endeavor, the leading global entertainment, sports and fashion agency, together with strategic investors Silver Lake Partners and KKR.

UFC 200 in Las Vegas, Nevada marks a historic milestone topping off the most impressive International Fight Week to date.

UFC 205, the global brand’s first-ever event in New York City, drew a record $17.7 million gate and set an attendance record with a sellout crowd of 20,427. Inside the Octagon, UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor defeated UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez to become the first UFC athlete in history to hold multiple championships simultaneously.

In May of 2017, the UFC opened its state of the art facility to deliver elite-level programs that support MMA athletes with all their development, fight preparation, and rehabilitation requirements.

In August 2017, UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor faced boxing legend Floyd Mayweather at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV, in a highly anticipated 12-round super welterweight boxing match. Mayweather defeated McGregor via TKO in the 10th round, as the event recorded 6.3 million PPV buys worldwide, exceeding the previous record of 5.1 million. The event also set numerous records around the world and generated more than $600 million in gross revenue worldwide. 

On Novemeber 10th, 2018 the UFC celebrated its 25th anniversary by hosting an event from the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. The main event featured an incredible battle between Chan Sung Jung (aka Korean Zombie) and Yair Rodriguez. The bout's spectacular finish is one of the greatest knockout victories in UFC history.

“I couldn’t be more excited to partner with The Walt Disney Company and ESPN on an agreement that will continue to grow our sport. UFC has always done deals with the right partners at the right time and this one is no exception. We will now have the ability to deliver fights to our young fan base wherever they are and whenever they want it. This deal is a home run for ESPN and UFC.” - Dana White after the five year deal was announced.