The brutal sport of Mixed Martial Arts, or MMA, as it is known has taken the world by storm, with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) leading the organisations that arrange MMA fights. It wasn’t that long ago when Israel Adesanya fought Sean Strickland on the UFC 293 card in Sydney and he surprisingly lost a decision., while several Australian MMA fighters were on the card. Since then, our national hero Alexander Volkanovski fought Islam Makhachev in the much-awaited rematch to highlight the Abu Dhabi UFC 294, for the Lightweight belt.

Australia hosted MMA cards

At the time of writing this article, the UFC has held 16 live fight cards since 2010, with the last one being UFC 293 when Alexander Volkanovski failed in his attempt to become a two-weight UFC champion with a victory over Makhachev. Prior to that, UFC 243 brought Adesanya and Whittaker as the main event to the Marvel Stadium in Melbourne on October 5^th, 2019, which broke all attendance records. Check out when the next UFC live event and invite your buddies to watch, remember to put away your vibrators first to avoid embarrassment. Order loads of craft beer from the online suppler and you and your friends will have a day to remember.

Pay per view

PPV enables Australians to tune into all UFC events, whether fight night or UFC title fights, which has boosted the number of die-hard MMA fans. While it is a wonderous experience to attend a UFC live event, the next best thing is PPV, where you can enjoy all the action from the comfort of your own living room.

ONE Championship

The second largest MMA organisation, ONE Championship has recently signed a deal that sees numerous live events in Australia. You can watch these events on YouTube, as you can with UFC prelims.

Noted Australian MMA fighters

Of course, the number 1 Australian MMA fighter has to be Volk (Alexander Volkanovski), the current UFC Featherweight champion, while Robert Whittaker used to be the UFC Middleweight Champion before he lost to Israel Adesanya in 2019. Mark Hunt was once a genuine UFC Heavyweight title contender and although he was born in New Zealand, Mark lived and trained in Australia. Next on our list is the inimitable Tai Tuivasa, an Aussie heavyweight that drinks a beer from a shoe after his fights. Tai is very much a crowd favourite who sees it as it is, a real straight-talker with star appeal.

Global trend for fitness

There is currently a global trend for physical fitness and when you look at the many MMA gyms that are opening across Australia, you realise that a lot of people are training MMA. Some to get fit, others to learn self-defence techniques and a few end up competing.

If you have yet to watch a UFC card, either at the venue or online, check when the next card is scheduled, tune in and see what all the fuss about.