The Ultimate Fighting Championship was born from one man's fascination to prove which fighting style was the world's best.

Art Davie's idea was to feature several martial artists with conflicting disciplines and have them square off in a no-holds-barred competition to see which technique would prove the most dominant. 

Then, in 1992, Davie, an advertising executive, met up with Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner Rorion Gracie and proposed the idea of an eight-man, single-elimination tournament called 'War of the Worlds.' 

Intrigued by the idea, Gracie partnered with Davie and was confident that his style of jiu-jitsu would fair well in such a tournament. Rorian even hand-picked his younger brother, Royce Gracie, for the competition, knowing Royce's smaller size and superb technique would impress fans and see his family victorious.

With 28 investors on board, WOW Promotions was formed and immediately looked to partner with Pay-Per-View, HBO or Showtime to televise the tournaments. Showtime and HBO declined, however, in May of 1993, Pay-Per-View agreed, and would go on to broadcast the first ever UFC tournament just eight months later.

Our own Gavin Vincent will take you through each UFC event as he explores MMA from it's days of no-weight classes, gloves, or rules... to the fastest growing sport in America. Our first installment takes a closer look at UFC 1-5:

UFC 1: The Beginning

UFC 1 was originally called "The Ultimate Fighting Championship" but later renamed to UFC 1: The Beginning. The first tournament was never intended to become a series. The Ultimate Fighting Championship was originally a one-off but did so well on Pay-Per-View, more tournaments were to follow. The event's main purpose was to find an answer to "Can a wrestler beat a boxer?". In no way did Davie or Gracie realize the sport they were creating.

Eight-man Tournament Rules:

- Five minute rounds with no weight classes
- No biting, groin attacks, fish hooking or eye gouging
- Fight ends with a submission, knockout or by throwing in the towel

Commentators: Bill Wallace & Jim Brown

Date: Nov. 12, 1993
Location: Denver, Colorado
Attendance: 2,800
Purchase Rate: 86,592

UFC 2: No Way Out

UFC 2 is the only event to feature a sixteen-man tournament and marked the first appearance of iconic referee "Big" John McCarthy. Modifications were made to the cage adding less floor padding and higher fences. Time limits were dropped and groin-strikes were unbanned, however, it was...