Then came The Fertitta Brothers and a loud, bald man named Dana White. In 2001, they bought the UFC for $2 million. That’s less than a nice house in Beverly Hills today. Ridiculous.
They created the Unified Rules. Weight classes. Gloves. Time limits. It became a real sport, not a street fight. But it still wasn’t a big deal. Most people had no idea it existed.
UFC 1 To UFC 300 | A Thing Of Beauty | UFC
One funny detail: The first event under the new ownership was UFC 30 in Atlantic City. The main event featured a guy named Tank Abbott. He was famous for his giant belly and short punches. That was the level of star power. Yikes.
The Reality TV Boom (2005)
Everything changed in 2005. The UFC launched a reality show called The Ultimate Fighter. It was on Spike TV. Nobody thought it would work. It exploded.
The season finale was a fight between Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar. It was a sweat-soaked, blood-spitting war. It was so exciting that people who had never watched fighting were glued to their couches. The UFC went from a cult secret to a national obsession in one night.
That fight happened on April 9, 2005. The UFC was just 11 years old at that point. And it was still growing up fast.
