MMA

What is MMA?

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is the most complete combat sport on the planet. It combines techniques from striking arts - boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, karate - with grappling disciplines - wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, judo, sambo - into a single unified ruleset that tests every dimension of a fighter's ability.

An MMA fight can be won by:

• KO or TKO - strikes that end the fight standing or on the ground
• Submission - chokes, joint locks or other techniques that force a tap
• Judge's decision - scored on striking, grappling, aggression and cage control
• Doctor or corner stoppage - referee or medical staff can end the fight to protect fighter safety

The UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) is the world's premier MMA organisation, broadcasting to hundreds of millions in over 175 countries. Other major promotions include ONE Championship, Bellator, PFL and KSW.

History & Origins

MMA's roots run deep. The ancient Greek sport of Pankration at the Olympic Games allowed virtually any technique. In Brazil, Vale Tudo - meaning "anything goes" - had been practiced since the 1920s as a no-holds-barred test between martial artists of different styles.

Modern MMA was born on November 12, 1993, when the first UFC event was held in Denver, Colorado. Royce Gracie submitted three opponents in one night, defeating bigger fighters from boxing, wrestling and karate. The result shocked the world and proved BJJ's supremacy on the ground.

Simultaneously in Japan, PRIDE Fighting Championships emerged as the sport's other great stage. PRIDE events at the Tokyo Dome drew 70,000 fans, led by Fedor Emelianenko - widely regarded as the greatest MMA fighter of all time. After the UFC acquired PRIDE in 2007, the sport consolidated around the Octagon and became a global mainstream phenomenon.

Legendary Eras & Defining Moments

The Gracie Era (1993-1997)

Royce Gracie defined MMA's founding chapter - a lean Brazilian who submitted larger opponents from boxing, wrestling and sumo with calm efficiency. His UFC tournament victories made the Gracie name synonymous with the sport's founding myth.

The PRIDE Era & Fedor (2000-2007)

Fedor Emelianenko was undefeated for a decade, defeating every credible heavyweight challenger with suffocating sambo, brutal ground-and-pound and deceptively fast hands. He remains the most universally acclaimed fighter in the sport's history.

The UFC Golden Era (2005-2013)

• Anderson Silva - middleweight champion for a record 2,457 days; his UFC 112 and 117 performances are among the most technically brilliant in history
• Georges St-Pierre - two-time welterweight champion, the most complete fighter of his generation
• Jon Jones - the most athletically gifted fighter in UFC history, undefeated across light heavyweight and heavyweight

The McGregor & Khabib Era (2015-2020)

Conor McGregor transformed MMA into a global mainstream phenomenon. His rivalry with Khabib Nurmagomedov - culminating in UFC 229, the most watched MMA event in history - defined an era. Khabib retired undefeated at 29-0.

MMA Training - The Complete Fighter

MMA training requires mastery across multiple disciplines simultaneously. Elite fighters typically train 2-3 sessions per day:

• Striking - boxing, kickboxing or Muay Thai for stand-up offence and defence
• Wrestling - takedowns, takedown defence, clinch control and cage work
• Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) - ground control, submissions and submission defence
• MMA-specific sparring - integrating all disciplines under fight conditions
• Strength & conditioning - explosive power, endurance and injury prevention across five-round bouts

The greatest MMA coaches - Greg Jackson, Firas Zahabi, John Kavanagh - are masters of strategy, athlete development and cross-disciplinary integration.

MMA Around the World

• United States - birthplace of the modern sport via the UFC; home of the world's deepest MMA infrastructure and talent pool
• Brazil - cradle of BJJ and Vale Tudo; produced Royce Gracie, Anderson Silva, Jose Aldo and a generation of world champions
• Russia & Dagestan - home of the world's most dominant grappling-based fighters; Khabib and Islam Makhachev defined a new era
• Netherlands - produced Alistair Overeem and a generation of kickboxing-based MMA fighters trained in the Dutch striking tradition
• Japan - hosted PRIDE, the sport's greatest promotion outside the UFC; continues with ONE Championship
• Ireland - Conor McGregor single-handedly built a national MMA culture; SBG Ireland under John Kavanagh is one of the world's elite gyms
• Canada - Georges St-Pierre and Tristar Gym put Canada on the MMA map

MMA in the Netherlands

The Dutch MMA scene is built on the country's unparalleled striking tradition. Where other nations produce grapplers who learn to strike, Dutch MMA fighters are elite strikers who add wrestling and BJJ - a combination that produces some of the most dangerous and exciting fighters in the sport.

Alistair Overeem is the standard-bearer of Dutch MMA - simultaneously K-1 World Grand Prix champion and Strikeforce heavyweight champion. His career bridged the golden era of kickboxing and the modern UFC era, setting the template for how Dutch kickboxers transition to MMA success.

Dutch gyms increasingly offer integrated MMA programmes combining world-class kickboxing coaching with BJJ and wrestling - producing complete fighters who are as dangerous on the ground as they are on the feet.

Bas Rutten - The First Dutch UFC Champion

Bas Rutten - "El Guapo" - is the first Dutch UFC champion in history and an absolute pioneer of the sport. In 1999 he became the undefeated UFC Heavyweight Champion and remains one of the most charismatic and beloved figures combat sports has ever produced.

Rutten moved from the Japanese Pancrase organisation to the UFC in 1999. After a TKO win over Tsuyoshi Kohsaka he fought for the vacant heavyweight title at UFC 18. His split decision win over Kevin Randleman - one of the most debated decisions in early UFC history - made him UFC Heavyweight Champion. He vacated the title to drop to light heavyweight but severe knee and neck injuries forced retirement, ending his career on an extraordinary unbeaten run of 22 consecutive fights.

In a sport dominated by wrestlers in the late 1990s, Rutten did something almost no one else could - he knocked them out. With a background in kyokushin karate and kickboxing, his liver shots became his signature weapon and he is universally credited as the fighter who proved body-shot finishing was a legitimate strategy at the highest level of MMA.

• UFC Hall of Fame (2015) - Inducted under the Pioneers category, the first Dutch fighter ever to receive the honour
• Commentator - One of MMA's most beloved broadcasters, including for PRIDE FC in Japan
• Actor - Appeared in Hollywood films including Here Comes the Boom (2012) alongside Kevin James
• Self-defence legend - His instruction videos ("Look inside, bong, bang, dang") became iconic internet memes - simultaneously hilarious and genuinely effective

Bas Rutten is not just a Dutch MMA legend - he is a global combat sports icon who proved that a striker from the Dutch tradition could conquer the early UFC and leave a permanent mark on the sport's history.

Early UFC Tournament Winners & First Champions (1993-1997)

Before weight classes existed, the UFC used a single-night tournament format to crown its winner. These are the men who conquered the bracket - and the first official UFC champion crowned when the sport grew up:

• UFC 1 (1993) - Royce Gracie - Tournament winner
• UFC 2 (1994) - Royce Gracie - Tournament winner
• UFC 3 (1994) - Steve Jennum - Tournament winner (stepped in as alternate after Royce Gracie withdrew exhausted following his first fight)
• UFC 4 (1994) - Royce Gracie - Tournament winner
• UFC 5 (1995) - Dan Severn - Tournament winner
• UFC 6 (1995) - Oleg Taktarov - Tournament winner
• UFC 7 (1995) - Marco Ruas - Tournament winner
• UFC 8 (1996) - Don Frye - Tournament winner
• UFC 9 (1996) - Dan Severn - Superfight Champion (no tournament due to political pressure; Severn defeated Ken Shamrock in the Superfight main event)
• UFC 10 (1996) - Mark Coleman - Tournament winner
• UFC 11 (1996) - Mark Coleman - Tournament winner
• UFC 12 (1997) - Jerry Bohlander - Lightweight tournament winner (under 200 lbs)
• UFC 12 (1997) - Mark Coleman - First official UFC Heavyweight Champion (defeated Dan Severn; first event with weight classes)

UFC 12 marked a turning point in the sport's history - the introduction of weight classes ended the open-weight tournament era and transformed the UFC into a structured athletic competition. From this moment, MMA began its evolution into the global sport it is today.

The Transformation Era: UFC 13-23 (1997-1999)

From UFC 13 onwards the organisation began to transform fundamentally. The shift from open-weight tournaments to fixed weight classes and individual title fights was set in motion in this period - and completed by UFC 23. Here is the full record of winners and champions from UFC 13 through to the end of the tournament era:

• UFC 13 (1997) - Randy Couture (Heavyweight tournament winner) + Guy Mezger (Lightweight tournament winner)
• UFC 14 (1997) - Mark Kerr (Heavyweight tournament winner) + Kevin Jackson (Middleweight tournament winner) + Maurice Smith (New UFC Heavyweight Champion)
• UFC 15 (1997) - Mark Kerr (Heavyweight tournament winner) + Maurice Smith (Defends Heavyweight title)
• Ultimate Japan (1997) - Kazushi Sakuraba (Heavyweight tournament winner) + Frank Shamrock (First UFC Light Heavyweight Champion)
• UFC 16 (1998) - Pat Miletich (Lightweight tournament winner) + Frank Shamrock (Defends Light Heavyweight title)
• UFC 17 (1998) - Dan Henderson (Middleweight tournament winner) + Frank Shamrock (Defends Light Heavyweight title)
• Ultimate Brazil (1998) - Pat Miletich (First UFC Welterweight Champion) + Frank Shamrock (Defends Light Heavyweight title)
• UFC 18 (1999) - Pat Miletich (Defends Welterweight title) + Bas Rutten (New UFC Heavyweight Champion)
• UFC 19 (1999) - Gary Goodridge (Last UFC tournament winner in the US - 4-man tournament)
• UFC 20 (1999) - Bas Rutten (Defends Heavyweight title)
• UFC 21 (1999) - Pat Miletich (Defends Welterweight title)
• UFC 22 (1999) - Frank Shamrock (Defends Light Heavyweight title)
• UFC 23 (1999) - Kenichi Yamamoto (Ultimate Japan 2 tournament winner) + Kevin Randleman (New UFC Heavyweight Champion - final event of the tournament era)

Key Notes on This Era

• Weight class names - In these early years the UFC used different names than today. "Lightweight" meant under 200 lbs (later Welterweight/Middleweight), "Middleweight" meant under 211 lbs (later Light Heavyweight).
• Dutch glory - Bas Rutten made history in 1999 by claiming the UFC Heavyweight Championship at UFC 18 - one of the greatest achievements in Dutch combat sports history.
• End of the tournament era - UFC 19 held the last US tournament (won by Gary Goodridge). UFC 23 in Japan was the absolute final chapter of the tournament format. From that point the UFC moved permanently to the structure we know today - ranked fighters, individual bouts and one reigning champion per division.

Active Dutch Fighters in the UFC

After the retirement of legends like Alistair Overeem and Stefan Struve, the Netherlands has a smaller but highly qualitative presence in the Octagon. These are the Dutch fighters currently under UFC contract or competing for one:

Reinier de Ridder - "The Dutch Knight"

Division: Light Heavyweight

The undisputed number one Dutch fighter in the UFC today. The former two-weight ONE Championship champion made the move to the UFC in 2024. After a period at middleweight he recently moved up to light heavyweight - and on 22 August 2026 he announced his arrival in the new division with an impressive debut win over Roman Dolidze at UFC Sacramento.

Yousri Belgaroui

Division: Middleweight

A former world-class kickboxer - including at GLORY - who brought his elite stand-up game to the UFC middleweight division. Belgaroui trains extensively alongside former UFC champion Alex Pereira and is known as one of the most technically dangerous strikers in the division.

MMA in Film & Documentary

Essential Documentaries

1. The Smashing Machine (2002) - An intimate portrait of Mark Kerr. One of the greatest combat sports documentaries ever made.
2. Khabib (2023) - The authorised documentary on Khabib Nurmagomedov's life and career from Dagestan to the top of the sport.
3. Conor McGregor: Notorious (2017) - Behind-the-scenes documentary following McGregor's rise to two-weight champion. The highest-grossing MMA documentary ever made.
4. Fedor: The Return (2012) - Rare insight into the life of the sport's most revered heavyweight.

Essential Films

1. Warrior (2011) - Two estranged brothers compete in an MMA tournament. The most emotionally powerful MMA film ever made.
2. Never Back Down (2008) - A mainstream MMA drama that introduced millions of teenagers to training culture and the sport.

MMA Gear - What You Need

MMA training requires a broader gear set than single-discipline sports, covering both striking and grappling:

• MMA gloves 4oz - open-finger competition gloves. Brands: Fairtex, Hayabusa, Rival
• MMA gloves 7oz - heavier training gloves for safer sparring
• Boxing gloves - 12-16oz for boxing and Muay Thai sessions within MMA training
• MMA shorts - cut for full grappling range of motion, no inner lining that prevents leg locks
• Rashguard - worn for grappling, preventing mat burns and reducing bacteria transmission
• Shin guards - for Muay Thai and kickboxing sessions within MMA training
• Mouthguard - non-negotiable for contact training. OPRO is the official UFC supplier
• Groin guard - required for sparring and competition

At Fight2Win we carry a full MMA range from Fairtex, Hayabusa, Booster, King, Rival and Adidas - everything from your first session to the cage.