However, just five years later Pride would become defunct, and with it the collapse of serious mainstream MMA in an Asian setting. After several poor decisions made at the boardroom level, Pride would later be sold to Zuffa, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

AMERICAN DOMINANCE, ASIAN DECLINE

In 2005, after 12 years of mediocrity, the popularity of MMA began to surge. During the intervening years since the foundation of the UFC in 1993, the promotion had struggled to attract any attention from the wider sporting audience.

UFC struggled in the early part of the decade. Seen by many as too violent, UFC drew the ire of American politicians and policymakers. "Human cockfighting" was the turn of phrase that then-Senator John McCain used to describe the no-hold-barred, almost rules free form of MMA that defined UFC in the late 1990s.

At the turn of the century, UFC and MMA generally were banned in 36 states across the USA, including New York. Restricted and marginalized, UFC was forced to rely on small pay-per-view audiences and smaller crowds to survive.

The choice facing UFC was stark: adapt and survive or remain the same and suffer a slow painful death.

Up until UFC 12 in 1997, fighters were not classified by weight, i.e. a flyweight could face off against a heavyweight. However, after the event was moved from New York to Alabama, following a ban in the northern state at the last minute, UFC began to start introducing rules designed to protect fighters and change the image of the sport.

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