WCMMA
History
The collapse of EliteXC was quickly followed by Cage Rage with its final show Cage Rage 28 in 2008. Later that same year Dave O'Donnell, one of the original owners of Cage Rage, created Ultimate Challenge UK. Their first event 'Bad Breed' covered the spot where Cage Rage 29 was going to take place.
After a while of promoting many successful events, UCUK dropped the 'UK' out of the name and replaced it with 'MMA' becoming 'UCMMA'. UCMMA has been steadily approaching the same popularity that Cage Rage once enjoyed.
On August 6, 2011, UCMMA 22 - Warrior Creed was shown on PPV channel Primetime.
UCMMA can now be watched on Fight Now TV in the United States in a landmark deal for the promotion. The contract with the network is set for 1 year as of February 2012.
On May 28, 2012, UCMMA was featured on BBC One programme How To Beat Pain, which was presented by Greg Whyte and Jack Krindler.
After White Collar MMA 6 (WCMMA), UK casting call were taken place at the Troxy for a new American reality show - Warrior Island. Dave O'Donnell hosted the casting call at the request by Global Proving Ground (GPG) President, James Jefferson. The reality show will be directed by Hollywood veteran Ben Perry.
On October 25 it was announced that the UCMMA have united with The Centre of Health and Human Performance in London to launched SAFE MMA, a nonprofit organization established to improve the safety of MMA fighters in the U.K. Chief among the organization's plans is a centralized and confidential database for fighter medical records. SAFE MMA, which officially launches Jan. 1 2013, also will provide affordable, standardized blood and medical tests for all registered fighters, as well as advice from leading world experts in sports medicine, according to today's announcement.
As of November 21 2012, UCMMA can also be seen on Canada's The Fight Network
After Sky Sports cut out all MMA programming from their channels, UCMMA announced that they signed a deal with on-demand channel Primetime for a live broadcasting partnership
Cage Fighter
They show their chat show, Cage Fighter, every Wednesday night on Sky Sports. Dave O'Donnell hosts the 30 minute show with Grant Waterman and interviews MMA fighters, shows clips of previous fights, GYM of the week, KO/Submission of the week and advertises their next event.
UK1
UCMMA also shows kickboxing matches during their events, referring to them as 'UK1', named after the well known K-1 kickboxing company based in Japan. Because they hold these fights in the same events as they show MMA, the kickboxers use the cage to compete in.
Each fight will be a three 3 minute round with a minute rest period in between rounds, and if it’s a draw one more round will be fought. Each round will be scored
FULL EPISODE
FULL EPISODE
FULL EPISODE
FULL EPISODE
using the 10-point must system. Fighters using the most effective aggression and effective technique will win the round. Also the three knock-down rule applies, and a fighter can only be saved from a count by the bell in the final round. the choice to use MMA gloves or standard kickboxing gloves are agreed to by both fighters. Because of the pace of the action, if fighters get into a clinch they will be allowed a single knee strike and then must break clean. If the referee says ‘break’ they must not hit on the break. Rules are set so that certain things that are allowed in MMA are not used in the UK1 bouts, such as standing/clinching elbow strikes, ground fighting (grappling or striking), trips, takedowns or throws.
Since its first bouts, it has gained popularity, as it makes their fight card more exciting and keeps the audience entertained if the prior fights were boring due to slow pace striking or grappling. It also allows the company to reach the type of audience that dislikes the use of small 6oz MMA gloves, grappling and striking to a grounded opponent. There are also titles in each weight division, which follows the same as their MMA divisions.