123-528: The Super Boxing League is the first professional boxing league in India. British businessman Bill Dosanjh and former boxing champion Amir Khan founded Super Boxing League in 2017 after Super Fight League 's first season. The league is organised with the support of World Boxing Council and Professional Boxing Organisation India. The first season had 8 teams comprising both men and women pugilists. List of all participating teams. The Super Boxing League will follow
246-409: A combat -based style which blended wrestling , kickboxing and submission grappling . Another promotion formed around the same time by Akira Maeda called Fighting Network RINGS initially started as a shoot-style professional wrestling promotion but it also promoted early mixed martial arts contests. From 1995 onwards it began identifying itself as a mixed martial arts promotion and moved away from
369-449: A fencer , and his fight against Taiwanese kung fu master Wu Ming Jeet. Wong combined boxing and kickboxing into his kung fu, as Bruce Lee did. Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki took place in Japan in 1976. The classic match-up between professional boxer and professional wrestler turned sour as each fighter refused to engage in the other's style, and after a 15-round stalemate it was declared
492-656: A gyaku-ude-garami armlock, which later became known as the "Kimura" in Brazilian jiu jitsu. In 1963, a catch wrestler and judoka " Judo " Gene Lebell fought professional boxer Milo Savage in a no-holds-barred match. Lebell won by Harai Goshi to rear naked choke, leaving Savage unconscious. This was the first televised bout of mixed-style fighting in North America. The hometown crowd was so enraged that they began to boo and throw chairs at Lebell. On February 12, 1963, three karatekas from Oyama dojo ( kyokushin later) went to
615-466: A $ 520,000 purse. Nevada State Athletic Commission announced the fight generated a total gate of $ 426,152 from 3,147 tickets sold. The fight averaged 1.3 million viewers on HBO World Championship Boxing . Khan split with trainer Freddie Roach following the García defeat and started training under Virgil Hunter . It was hoped that the new coach could improve Khan's defensive skills. Khan's next fight
738-615: A 120–108 shutout for Khan. Alexander followed Khan around the ring throughout but was unable to land more than one punch at a time as Khan met him in his tracks with hard combinations. After his victory Khan reiterated his desire to fight Floyd Mayweather. Promoter Oscar De La Hoya said, "So now I know why Mayweather doesn't want to fight him. He was brilliant. I wouldn't have fought him. He is hitting his peak just now. He looked incredible." Khan outlanded Alexander 243 to 91, according to CompuBox, and connected on 43% of his shots, compared to just 20% for Alexander. Khan earned $ 950,000 and Alexander
861-658: A 143 lbs catch-weight bout. The fight took place at the Motorpoint Arena in Sheffield . Khan was able to control some of the fight and managed to survive a fourth-round knockdown from Díaz. Khan managed to hold on throughout the fight to go onto win by UD. The scorecards read 115–113, 115–112, and 114–113. In the aftermath, Khan praised Díaz, "He caught me while I was off balance, and I couldn't get my stance back. I went down. I kept moving to recompose myself. That's what happens. There are little things to work on when we go back in
984-633: A 1905 fight between French savateur George Dubois and a judo practitioner Re-nierand which resulted in the latter winning by submission, as well as the highly publicized 1957 fight between French savateur and professional boxer Jacques Cayron and a young Japanese karateka named Mochizuki Hiroo which ended when Cayron knocked Hiroo out with a hook . Catch wrestling appeared in the late 19th century, combining several global styles of wrestling , including Indian pehlwani and English wrestling. In turn, catch wrestling went on to greatly influence modern MMA. No-holds-barred fighting reportedly took place in
1107-711: A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! . Khan was born and raised in Bolton , Greater Manchester , to a Pakistani Punjabi Rajput family with roots in Matore village of Kahuta Tehsil, located in Rawalpindi District of Punjab , Pakistan. He was educated at Smithills School in Bolton, and Bolton Community College . Khan is a Muslim , and a member of the Naqshbandi Sufi Order , along with being an active supporter of
1230-411: A base in striking arts became more competitive as they cross-trained in styles based around takedowns and submission holds. Likewise, those from the varying grappling styles added striking techniques to their arsenal. This increase of cross-training resulted in fighters becoming increasingly multidimensional and well-rounded in their skill-sets. The new hybridization of fighting styles can be seen in
1353-506: A contest was held in France between French savateurs and English bare-knuckle boxers in which French fighter Rambaud alias la Resistance fought English fighter Dickinson and won using his kicks. However, the English team still won the four other match-ups during the contest. Contests occurred in the late 19th to mid-20th century between French savateurs and other combat styles. Examples include
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#17328511669401476-451: A cut in the first round, which resulted from a clash of heads. With Barrera deemed in no position to fight on by the ringside doctor, the fight then went to the scorecards, on all three of which Khan was ahead (50–44, and 50–45 twice). With victory, Khan defended his WBA International lightweight title and also won the vacant WBO Inter-Continental lightweight title. Frank Warren was sufficiently impressed with Khan's performance to vow to land
1599-417: A different camera angle, it was right on the belt, leading to an 18th knockout (KO) for Khan in his career so far. Khan later rejected claims for the low blow saying, "He went down. It was above the belt. Zab's a great fighter. I respect him a lot. But it was nowhere near below [the belt]. It was a great shot." Over five rounds, Khan landed 61 of 284 total punches (21%) and Judah landed 20 of 115 (17%). For
1722-522: A draw. Muhammad Ali sustained a substantial amount of damage to his legs, as Antonio Inoki slide-kicked him continuously for the duration of the bout, causing him to be hospitalized for the next three days. The fight played an important role in the history of mixed martial arts. The basis of modern mixed martial arts in Japan can be found across several shoot-style professional wrestling promotions such as UWF International and Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi , both founded in 1991, that attempted to create
1845-529: A fractured fibula during the first knockdown. In early 2009, it was announced that Khan would fight former seven-time and three-weight world champion Marco Antonio Barrera . Barrera was ranked No. 1 and Khan No. 5 in the WBO world lightweight rankings. Previous IBF , and WBO lightweight title holder Nate Campbell was stripped of the belts after moving up to the light-welterweight division and Khan's promoter Frank Warren and Barrera's promoter Don King lobbied
1968-549: A mixed match, which catch wrestler Steele won in 35 seconds. 27 years later, Ray Steele's protégé Lou Thesz fought boxer Jersey Joe Walcott twice in mixed style bouts. The first match was a real contest which Thesz won while the second match was a work, which Thesz also won. In the 1940s in the Palama Settlement in Hawaii, five martial arts masters, under the leadership of Adriano Emperado, curious to determine which martial art
2091-673: A new peak of popularity in North America in December 2006: a rematch between then UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell and former champion Tito Ortiz , rivaled the PPV sales of some of the biggest boxing events of all time, and helped the UFC's 2006 PPV gross surpass that of any promotion in PPV history. In 2007, Zuffa LLC , the owners of the UFC MMA promotion, bought Japanese rival MMA brand Pride FC , merging
2214-563: A press conference in London to announce their world title bout set for 15 May at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York . This was Khan's first bout in the United States and the second defence of his WBA light-welterweight title. In front of a crowd of 4,412, in a one-sided fight, Khan retained his title after referee Steve Smoger halted the fight at 1 minute 25 seconds of round eleven. In
2337-399: A result of an increased number of competitors, organized training camps, information sharing, and modern kinesiology , the understanding of the effectiveness of various strategies has been greatly improved. UFC commentator Joe Rogan claimed that martial arts evolved more in the ten years following 1993 (the first UFC event ) than in the preceding 700 years combined. "During his reign atop
2460-482: A rooftop fight scene in the 1950s and 1960s, where gangs from rival martial arts schools challenged each other to bare-knuckle fights on Hong Kong's rooftops, in order to avoid crackdowns by colonial British Hong Kong authorities. The most famous fighter to emerge from Hong Kong's rooftop fight scene was Bruce Lee , who combined different techniques from different martial arts schools into his own hybrid martial arts system called Jeet Kune Do . Lee went on to popularize
2583-407: A sharp right hand that cut Molina over the left eye. Khan was stiffened by a right hook in the second before steadying the ship and resuming control of the contest. With Molina's cut deteriorating badly and taking plenty of punishment, referee Jack Reiss suggested his corner pull him out at the end of the ninth, however Molina was sent out for more, despite it being abundantly clear that he did not have
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#17328511669402706-519: A silver medal in the lightweight division at the 2004 Olympics , becoming at the age of 17, Britain's youngest boxing Olympic medalist. He turned professional in 2005. In 2007, he was named ESPN prospect of the year. He later became one of the youngest ever British professional world champions, winning the WBA title at the age of 22. Khan won the Commonwealth lightweight title in 2007. A year later, he won
2829-478: A special points scoring system. The first edition of SBL was held from July 7 to August 12, 2017, at Siri Fort, New Delhi . Maratha Yoddhas beat Haryana Warriors to become inaugural champion. While Sukhdeep Singh of Warriors was the Best Boxer of the league and Sandeep Chikara of Yoddhas was given the title of Best Knockout of the league. Amir Khan (boxer) Amir Iqbal Khan PP (born 8 December 1986)
2952-478: A suitable opponent to challenge next for his title. One of his possible opponents was lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez . Marquez decided not to move up in weight and stayed at lightweight. Maidana then stated his intention to fight Khan: "Stop looking for possible opponents for next Khan 11 December in England. Stop looking for lightweight boxers and face the real 140-pounders . I'll go to Khan's home soil to take
3075-539: A total of just five minutes. sparking a revolution in martial arts. The first Vale Tudo Japan tournaments were held in 1994 and 1995 and were both won by Rickson Gracie . Around the same time, International Vale Tudo competition started to develop through (World Vale Tudo Championship (WVC), VTJ , IVC , UVF etc.). Interest in mixed martial arts as a sport resulted in the creation of the Pride Fighting Championships (Pride) in 1997. The sport reached
3198-449: A unanimous decision, with shutout scores of 120–108 from all three judges. On 5 April 2008, Khan beat Kristjansen, dropping him three times in the seventh round to force a technical knockout (TKO) stoppage. Following the victory, Khan was made number one contender for the WBO lightweight title . Following the fight, Khan split from his trainer Oliver Harrison, the trainer for all of his previous 17 professional contests. The break-up
3321-423: A world title fight for him before the end of the year. There was a lot on his shoulders, but I always felt he could rise to the big occasion. I'd like to see him get a belt round his waist by the end of this year. Khan also commented on the fight, saying: I felt so completely easy, catching him with jabs. I felt like I was on a better level than him. The jabbing and patience – I felt so strong. You could see
3444-496: A world title shot, his promoter, Frank Warren , insisted that "He needs more schooling". Following the Gomez fight, Jorge Rubio was installed as Khan's new trainer. In early August, the lightweight Breidis Prescott was put forward by Rubio as Khan's next opponent. Rubio had previously coached Richar Abril , who had recently lost a close decision to Prescott. Prescott had a prolific knock-out record of 17 KOs in 19 contests, yet Khan
3567-679: Is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2005 to 2022. He held unified light-welterweight world championships between 2009 and 2012, including the WBA (later Super ) and IBF titles. At regional level, he held the Commonwealth lightweight title from 2007 to 2008. He also held the WBC Silver welterweight title from 2014 to 2016, and once challenged for the WBC and Ring magazine middleweight titles in 2016. As an amateur boxer , he won
3690-454: Is a champion, so let's make it happen." Khan made $ 1.5 million and Algieri earned a $ 500,000 purse. The fight, which took place on Spike, averaged 1 million viewers and peaked at 1.2 million. In early 2016, it was announced that Khan is moving up two weight divisions to middleweight , to fight Canelo Álvarez (46–1–1, 32 KOs) WBC , The Ring , and lineal middleweight titles. The fight took place on 7 May 2016, at
3813-415: Is a philanthropist with his own charity organisation, Amir Khan Foundation. He is also a promoter and sponsor , the owner of Khan Promotions and Pakistan 's Amir Khan Academy, and a co-owner of India 's Super Fight League ( MMA ) and Super Boxing League . As a celebrity , he has also participated in several reality television and game shows . In 2017, Khan appeared on the seventeenth series of I'm
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3936-598: The 2003 Junior Olympics . In early 2004 he won a gold medal at the European Student Championships in Lithuania , and in South Korea several months later he won a world junior lightweight title after fighting five times in seven days. One of his notable early amateur fights was against Victor Ortíz , whom he defeated in a second round stoppage. Overall, he compiled an amateur record of 101–9. Khan qualified for
4059-553: The 2004 Summer Olympics by finishing in first place at the 1st AIBA European 2004 Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Plovdiv , Bulgaria. He was Britain's sole representative in boxing at the Athens Games , winning a silver medal at the age of 17 in the lightweight boxing category. He was Britain's youngest Olympic boxer since Colin Jones in 1976. He lost in the final to Mario Kindelán ,
4182-582: The Muslim Writers Awards . Khan has two sisters and one brother, Haroon "Harry" Khan , also a professional boxer . He is the first cousin of English cricketer Sajid Mahmood , related through a paternal grandfather, Lal Khan Janjua , who moved to England after being discharged from the Pakistan Army . Khan began to box competitively at the age of 11, with early honours including three English school titles, three junior ABA titles, and gold at
4305-542: The National Indoor Arena in Birmingham against Irishman Michael Gomez , a former WBU super-featherweight champion. Khan knocked Gomez down twice in the fight, once in the opening round, and once in the fifth before the referee waved the fight off, giving Khan the victory via TKO. Still, Khan himself was hurt at various times during the fight, and was himself dropped in the second round. Despite Khan's eagerness at
4428-483: The UFC came to prominence in mainstream media in 2006, and with their 2007 merger with Pride FC and purchases of WEC and Strikeforce , it has been the most significant MMA promotion in the world in terms of popularity, salaries, talent , and level of competition. According to Fight Matrix , these are the promotions with the top ranked talent as of November 2024: There are hundreds of MMA training facilities throughout
4551-555: The karateka was allowed to use his fists, feet and knees, while the boxer could only use his fists. Hadley won the fight via knockout on the first round. In 1988 Rick Roufus challenged Changpuek Kiatsongrit to a non-title Muay Thai vs. kickboxing super fight. Roufus was at the time an undefeated Kickboxer and held both the KICK Super Middleweight World title and the PKC Middleweight U.S. title. Kiatsongrit
4674-524: The mandatory challenger , on 5 December, at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle upon Tyne , England. Due to Khan being a practising Muslim and Salita being an Orthodox Jew , the fight was hyped as a religious clash by the media, referring to it as a "battle of faiths" or " holy war ", though Khan and Salita both denied such claims. On 5 December 2009, Khan defeated Salita in 76 seconds, winning by TKO in
4797-626: The "Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts". The motion passed unanimously. In November 2005, the United States Army began to sanction mixed martial arts with the first annual Army Combatives Championships held by the US Army Combatives School . Canada formally decriminalized mixed martial arts with a vote on Bill S-209 on June 5, 2013. The bill allows for provinces to have the power to create athletic commissions to regulate and sanction professional mixed martial arts bouts. Since
4920-671: The "father of mixed martial arts" stating: "If you look at the way Bruce Lee trained, the way he fought, and many of the things he wrote, he said the perfect style was no style. You take a little something from everything. You take the good things from every different discipline, use what works, and you throw the rest away". A contemporary of Bruce Lee, Wing Chun practitioner Wong Shun Leung , gained prominence fighting in 60–100 illegal beimo fights against other Chinese martial artists of various styles. Wong also fought and won against Western fighters of other combat styles, such as his match against Russian boxer Giko, his televised fight against
5043-695: The 1920s and became renowned through its association with the " Gracie challenge ", which was issued by Carlos Gracie and Hélio Gracie and upheld later by descendants of the Gracie family . The "Gracie Challenges" were held in the garages and gyms of the Gracie family members. When the popularity grew, these types of mixed bouts were a staple attraction at the carnivals in Brazil. In the mid-20th century, mixed martial arts contests emerged in Hong Kong's street fighting culture in
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5166-555: The Brawlers contests", and ended the sport. Japan had its own form of mixed martial arts discipline, Shooto , which evolved from shoot wrestling in 1985, as well as the shoot wrestling derivative Pancrase , which was founded as a promotion in 1993. Pancrase 1 was held in Japan in September 1993, two months before UFC 1 was held in the United States in November 1993. In 1993, the sport
5289-727: The Cuban who had also beaten him several months earlier in the pre-Olympic match-ups in Greece. In 2005, he avenged the two losses by beating the 34-year-old Kindelan in his last amateur fight. His Olympic fights drew an audience of nearly 8 million viewers on BBC , including 8 million viewers watching his final Olympic match with Kindelan. His 2005 rematch with Kindelan drew an audience of 6.3 million viewers on ITV . He made his professional debut against David Bailey in July 2005. The fight drew an audience of 4.4 million viewers, which
5412-548: The IBF light-welterweight title when he defeated Zab Judah via KO in the fifth round. In July 2012, he lost the WBA (Super) light welterweight title against Danny Garcia . Later that year, he won the vacant WBC Silver interim light-welterweight title when he defeated Carlos Molina via RTD. In 2014, he defeated Luis Collazo for the WBA International and vacant WBC Silver welterweight titles. Between 2016 and 2019, he challenged for
5535-450: The IBF. A rematch was due to take place in May, but in the run up to the fight, Peterson tested positive for synthetic testosterone. The Nevada Athletic Commission denied Peterson a licence to box, and the fight was cancelled. The WBA reinstated Khan as champion, the IBF did not. On 23 May 2012, ESPN announced that Khan would next fight against undefeated WBC champion Danny García . In
5658-502: The Iowa Athletic Commission officially sanctioned Battlecade Extreme Fighting under a modified form of its existing rules for Shootfighting . These rules created the three 'five-minute round/one-minute break' format, and mandated shootfighting gloves, as well as weight classes for the first time. Illegal blows were listed as groin strikes, head butting, biting, eye gouging, hair pulling, striking an opponent with an elbow while
5781-618: The Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Thailand and fought against three Muay Thai fighters. The three kyokushin karate fighters were Tadashi Nakamura, Kenji Kurosaki and AkiFujihira (also known as Noboru Osawa), while the Muay Thai team of three authentic Thai fighter. Japan won 2–1: Tadashi Nakamura and Akio Fujihira both knocked out their opponents with punches while Kenji Kurosaki, who fought the Thai,
5904-506: The United States by CV Productions, Inc. Its first competition, called Tough Guy Contest was held on March 20, 1980, New Kensington, Pennsylvania , Holiday Inn . During that year the company renamed the brand to Super Fighters and sanctioned ten regulated tournaments in Pennsylvania . In 1983, Pennsylvania State Senate passed a bill known as the " Tough Guy Law " that specifically called for: "Prohibiting Tough Guy contests or Battle of
6027-541: The WBA, and IBF light-welterweight titles in Las Vegas on 23 July. Judah had reclaimed the IBF title two months earlier against Kaizer Mabuza . Khan was unhappy that a fight with Bradley could not be made. He said, "Bradley was the guy I wanted to fight but he chickened out. I offered him 50% of UK revenue, which is unheard of, and 50% of all revenue in America, that's how much I wanted to fight him, but he didn't want it." The fight
6150-567: The WBC, The Ring middleweight titles and the WBO welterweight title. In July 2019, he won the vacant WBC International welterweight title when he defeated Billy Dib via TKO in the fourth round. Khan was known for his hand speed and accuracy, and is regarded as one of the most successful British boxers of all time. He is credited with popularising boxing amongst British Pakistanis and British Asians , as well as inspiring South Asian involvement in all aspects of British boxing. Outside of boxing, he
6273-687: The WBO Inter-Continental lightweight title when he defeated Martin Kristjansen via TKO. Later that year, he would lose the title to Breidis Prescott via KO, in one of the biggest upsets in British boxing history. His next three fights saw him win the vacant WBA International lightweight title, the vacant WBO Inter-Continental lightweight title, and the WBA light-welterweight title. He made his US debut against Paulie Malignaggi in May 2010, where he retained his WBA light-welterweight title. In 2011, he won
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#17328511669406396-590: The WBO to elevate the Khan-Barrera fight to a world lightweight title eliminator. However, the world-title status was instead given to the fight between Juan Manuel Márquez and Juan Diaz , ranked No. 2 and No. 3 respectively by the WBO. On 14 March 2009, at the MEN Arena in Manchester, Khan defeated Barrera by technical decision (TD). The fight was stopped towards the end of the fifth round due to Barrera suffering
6519-519: The ability to do Khan much damage. Khan started to let his hands go more in round ten, after which his corner finally decided it had seen enough. Khan landed 312 of 679 punches thrown (46%), an equal amount of jabs and power shots were landed. Molina was less busy, landing 87 of 335 (26%). The fight averaged 616,000 viewers. Following his victory over Molina, Khan returned to the UK for a fight against 33 year old Julio Díaz (40–7–1, 29 KOs) on 27 April 2013 in
6642-460: The aftermath Malignaggi admitted he lost to the better man, saying, "I've fought two elite fighters, Miguel Cotto and Amir Khan. From here, I'm not sure where I go. I'll sit down with my team. I don't want to be a punching bag." Khan showed his speed, power and combinations throughout the fight and proved to be too much for Malignaggi. Immediately after the fight, Khan stated he wanted to fight Marcos Maidana next, and that he would not be leaving
6765-460: The concept of mixed martial arts internationally. Early mixed-match martial arts professional wrestling bouts in Japan (known as Ishu Kakutōgi Sen (異種格闘技戦), literally "heterogeneous combat sports bouts") became popular with Antonio Inoki only in the 1970s. Inoki was a disciple of Rikidōzan , but also of Karl Gotch , who trained numerous Japanese wrestlers in catch wrestling . Regulated mixed martial arts competitions were first introduced in
6888-513: The conclusion of the meeting, all parties in attendance were able to agree upon a uniform set of rules to govern the sport of mixed martial arts. The rules adopted by the NJSACB have become the de facto standard set of rules for professional mixed martial arts across North America. On July 30, 2009, a motion was made at the annual meeting of the Association of Boxing Commissions to adopt these rules as
7011-522: The contracted fighters under one promotion. Comparisons were drawn to the consolidation that occurred in other sports, such as the AFL-NFL Merger in American football . The first documented use of the name mixed martial arts was in a review of UFC 1 by television critic, Howard Rosenberg , in 1993. The term gained popularity when the website, newfullcontact.com (one of the biggest websites covering
7134-420: The decisive sixth, a five-punch combination from Khan staggered McCloskey and moments later the pair went toe-to-toe before McCloskey reeled away and noticed blood coming from around his left eye. Khan had some trouble with the awkward and resilient southpaw , who was difficult to hit cleanly, but he was both too quick and too busy for McCloskey, winning all six rounds on all three cards. Frank Warren stated that
7257-422: The difference. I had to take some shots in that match. I made some mistakes in the past and I'm not going to make them again. It was announced on 8 April 2009 that Khan would move up to the light-welterweight division to fight Andreas Kotelnik (31–2–1, 13 KOs) at the MEN Arena in Manchester for the WBA light-welterweight title on 18 July. Khan Said, "This is the best news that I could have received. To fight for
7380-528: The early 1920s, merged various forms of combat styles such as wrestling, judo and striking into one unique martial art. The popularity of professional wrestling, which was contested under various catch wrestling rules at the time, waned after World War I , when the sport split into two genres: " shoot ", in which the fighters actually competed, and " show ", which evolved into modern professional wrestling . In 1936, heavyweight boxing contender Kingfish Levinsky and professional wrestler Ray Steele competed in
7503-497: The fight 114–111 in favour of Khan. HBO's unofficial scorer, Harold Lederman , scored it 113–112, also for Khan. Deadspin described it as a robbery. After the fight, Khan said, "It was like I was against two people, the referee and Lamont himself. I was the cleaner fighter; he was so wild. The referee wasn't giving me a chance. I heard the referee give me a warning [for pushing], but there was nothing I could do. He kept coming in with his head. There hasn't been [HBO] boxing in D.C. for
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#17328511669407626-598: The fight again, still citing his back as the problem. The fight had already been rescheduled from 19 June to 17 July, and Bradley went on to fight Luis Carlos Abregu on 17 July, instead of Maidana. After failing to secure the fight with Bradley, Maidana's camp announced that he would fight former WBO light-welterweight champion DeMarcus Corley , on 28 August 2010 at the Luna Park Stadium in Buenos Aires , Argentina. Maidana went on to win by UD. Khan continued to look for
7749-526: The fight's Primetime pay-per-view sold four times as many buys as the network's previous record holder, Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler , which sold 50,000 buys, thus the Khan–McCloskey fight sold about 200,000 buys. The fight was shown in the US on HBO where it averaged 1.2 million viewers. On 31 May 2011, Khan agreed to fight 33-year-old two-weight champion Zab Judah (41–6, 28 KOs) in attempt to unify
7872-574: The fight, Khan earned $ 1,072,500 and Judah had a $ 500,000 purse. The fight averaged 1.4 million viewers on HBO, peaking at 1.417 million viewers. Following the Judah victory, Khan began chasing a big money fight with top pound for pound fighter Floyd Mayweather Jr. Mayweather seemed uninterested, and instead said that Khan should fight the Mayweather Promotions prospect Jessie Vargas , an option that Khan dismissed. In October 2011, it
7995-425: The first round. Maidana was saved by the bell but regained composure and continued to battle on. Khan dominated the scoring until tiring around round seven. Maidana rallied and midway through round ten stunned Khan with a heavy right hand. Maidana followed up with a series of uppercuts and right hands. Khan then rallied to win rounds eleven and twelve to solidify a UD win. The scores were 114–111 twice, and 113–112. Khan
8118-529: The first round. Salita was knocked down three times, the first time just 10 seconds into the fight. It was the first loss of Salita's career. On 17 January 2010, Khan announced he had split with promoter Frank Warren and signed a deal with Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions , which resulted in Khan's fights moving back to ITV. On 9 March 2010, Golden Boy Promotions confirmed that Khan and former light-welterweight world champion Paulie Malignaggi would hold
8241-512: The first ten rounds. Kotelnik rallied in the closing rounds but could not land a decisive punch on Khan in spite of his best efforts. After the fight, Khan said, "It's the best feeling ever. I want to thank Freddie Roach and my team for making this happen. I'm a world champion and I'm going to enjoy it. I'm still young and I've got big things to come." On 6 October 2009, Frank Warren confirmed that Khan would defend his WBA light-welterweight title against undefeated Dmitry Salita (30–0–1, 16 KOs),
8364-563: The form of rooftop fights. During the early 20th century, there was an influx of migrants from mainland China, including Chinese martial arts teachers who opened up martial arts schools in Hong Kong. In the mid-20th century, soaring crime in Hong Kong , combined with limited Hong Kong Police manpower, led to many young Hongkongers learning martial arts for self-defence . Around the 1960s, there were about 400 martial arts schools in Hong Kong, teaching their own distinctive styles of martial arts. In Hong Kong's street fighting culture, there emerged
8487-571: The founding of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) promotion company in 1993. The company held an event with almost no rules, mostly due to the influence of Art Davie and Rorion Gracie attempting to replicate mixed contests that existed in Brazil and Japan. They would later implement a different set of rules (example: eliminating kicking a grounded opponent), which differed from other leagues which were more in favour of realistic, "street-like" fights. The first documented use of
8610-501: The gym." Khan stated the fight could be his last in the UK. Despite interest in a bout with Khan, Floyd Mayweather announced that he would fight Marcos Maidana (35–3, 31 KOs) on 3 May 2014. On 24 March, Khan decided to fight 32-year-old former champion Luis Collazo (35–5, 18 KOs) on the undercard at the MGM Grand Las Vegas . The fight was for the vacant WBA International welterweight title and WBA title eliminator, as well as
8733-558: The head by a left hook, right hook combination that sent him crashing to the canvas. Although Khan managed to return to his feet, Prescott forced the stoppage with another left that put Khan down again. The bout was officially called off at 55 seconds. Following the defeat, Rubio was sacked and was replaced by Freddie Roach . Khan began training with Roach at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, training alongside stablemate Manny Pacquiao ,
8856-405: The historian E. Norman Gardiner, "No branch of athletics was more popular than the pankration." There is also evidence of similar mixed combat sports in ancient Egypt , India and Japan . The mid-19th century saw the prominence of the new sport savate in the combat sports circle. French savate fighters wanted to test their techniques against the traditional combat styles of its time. In 1852,
8979-674: The jurisdiction of the CSAC, rendering the vote meaningless. On September 30, 2000, the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board (NJSACB) began allowing mixed martial arts promoters to conduct events in New Jersey. The first event was an IFC event titled Battleground 2000 held in Atlantic City. The intent was to allow the NJSACB to observe actual events and gather information to establish a comprehensive set of rules to regulate
9102-411: The kickboxing rules already accepted by most state athletic commissions. These modified kickboxing rules allowed for take downs and ground fighting and did away with rounds, although they did allow for fighters to be stood up by the referee and restarted if there was no action on the ground. These rules were the first in modern MMA to define fouls, fighting surfaces and the use of the cage. In March 1997,
9225-420: The last [18] years because this is what happens." Khan earned a base purse of $ 1.1 million, while Peterson earned a career-high $ 650,000 purse. Khan appealed the decision to the sanctioning bodies, citing the poor refereeing, and the presence of a "mystery man" at ringside who could have interfered with the scoring. As soon as the WBA agreed and ordered an immediate rematch, Khan withdrew his appeal with
9348-403: The late 1880s when wrestlers representing the style of catch wrestling and many others met in tournaments and music-hall challenge matches throughout Europe. In the US, the first major encounter between a boxer and a wrestler in modern times took place in 1887 when John L. Sullivan , then heavyweight world boxing champion, entered the ring with his trainer, wrestling champion William Muldoon , and
9471-464: The late 1960s to early 1970s, the concept of hybrid martial arts was popularized in the West by Bruce Lee via his system of Jeet Kune Do . Lee believed that "the best fighter is not a boxer, karate or judo man. The best fighter is someone who can adapt to any style, to be formless, to adopt an individual's own style and not following the system of styles." In 2004, UFC President Dana White would call Lee
9594-429: The light-welterweight division until he had unified the various belts, suggesting that the way to do this would be for him to fight Maidana, and then go on to face the winner of a Devon Alexander vs. Timothy Bradley match. Maidana (29–1, 27 KOs), after failing to challenge undefeated WBO light-welterweight champion Timothy Bradley, postponed the fight to 19 June due to a back injury. On 3 May, Maidana pulled out of
9717-579: The name "MMA" at the UFC 17 rules meeting in response to increased public criticism. The question as to who actually coined the name is still in debate. The first state-regulated MMA event was held in Biloxi, Mississippi on August 23, 1996, with the sanctioning of IFC's Mayhem in Mississippi show by the Mississippi Athletic Commission under William Lyons. The rules used were an adaptation of
9840-406: The new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The bout was on HBO PPV . Mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts ( MMA ) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling , incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place throughout Japan and the countries of East Asia . At
9963-406: The night, unafraid of Khan, believing Khan had no power and he would eventually knock him out. In the post-fight interview in the ring, Khan credited his twelve months of boxing training with Virgil Hunter for his success. Khan's purse for the fight was $ 1.5m while Collazo earned $ 350,000. Khan looked to fight one more time in 2014, targeting Devon Alexander or Robert Guerrero . On 21 October, it
10086-481: The opponent is on the mat, kidney strikes, and striking the back of the head with closed fist. Holding onto the ring or cage for any reason was defined as a foul. While there are minor differences between these and the final Unified Rules, notably regarding elbow strikes, the Iowa rules allowed mixed martial arts promoters to conduct essentially modern events legally, anywhere in the state. On March 28, 1997, Extreme Fighting 4
10209-542: The original shoot style. Professional wrestlers Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki founded Pancrase in 1993 which promoted legitimate contests initially under professional wrestling rules. These promotions inspired Pride Fighting Championships which started in 1997. Pride was acquired by its rival Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2007. A fight between Golden Gloves boxing champion Joey Hadley and Arkansas Karate Champion David Valovich happened on June 22, 1976, at Memphis Blues Baseball Park. The bout had mixed rules:
10332-461: The other portion of the WBA title that belongs to me." The fight was confirmed on 16 September to take place at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on 11 December. Khan was reported to earn at least $ 1.5 million compared to Maidana who had a purse of $ 550,000. Khan successfully defended his title for the third time against Maidana. Khan knocked Maidana down with a combination of two body shots in
10455-502: The outside after being surprised with Algieri's aggression. Algieri fought a far better fight than he did against Manny Pacquiao, throwing more punches and landing some power shots. Khan landed 218 of 609 punches thrown (36%), while Algieri landed on 199 of 703 (28%), most of which were in the opening six rounds. Following the victory, Khan was now 5–0 against New York opponents. He again called out Mayweather saying, "I think everybody knows Amir Khan wants to fight Floyd Mayweather. Mayweather
10578-605: The precursors of modern MMA are mixed style contests throughout Europe, Japan, and the Pacific Rim during the early 1900s. In Japan, these contests were known as merikan , from the Japanese slang for "American [fighting]". Merikan contests were fought under a variety of rules, including points decision, best of three throws or knockdowns, and victory via knockout or submission. Sambo , a martial art and combat sport developed in Russia in
10701-432: The remaining seconds of the round. García kept pressing in round four, forcing Khan to take a second eight count after he touched the canvas with his glove. Khan regrouped and was temporarily able to go back at García, but with less than a minute left in the round Khan was dropped a third time. Referee Kenny Bayless stopped the fight despite Khan assuring him he could continue. After the fight, Khan said, "It wasn't my night. I
10824-437: The run up to the fight, García's father and trainer, Angel García, made disparaging comments about Khan's race and religion. Khan entered the fight as heavy favourite and through the first two rounds and most of the third, he heavily outlanded García. The tide turned late in the third round as García was able to land a hard left hook counterpunch off a missed right. Khan hit the canvas and was clearly hurt, on unsteady legs, for
10947-558: The same time, in Brazil there was a phenomenon called vale tudo , which became known for unrestricted fights between various styles such as judo , Brazilian jiu-jitsu , catch wrestling , luta livre , Muay Thai and capoeira . An early high-profile mixed bout was Kimura vs. Gracie in 1951. In mid-20th century Hong Kong , rooftop street fighting contests between different martial arts styles gave rise to Bruce Lee 's hybrid martial arts style Jeet Kune Do . Another precursor to modern MMA
11070-535: The sport at the time), hosted and reprinted the article. The first use of the term by a promotion was in September 1995 by Rick Blume, president and CEO of Battlecade Extreme Fighting, just after UFC 7. UFC official, Jeff Blatnick , was responsible for the Ultimate Fighting Championship officially adopting the name mixed martial arts. It was previously marketed as "Ultimate Fighting" and "No Holds Barred (NHB)", until Blatnick and John McCarthy proposed
11193-469: The sport effectively. On April 3, 2001, the NJSACB held a meeting to discuss the regulation of mixed martial arts events. This meeting attempted to unify the myriad rules and regulations which had been utilized by the different mixed martial arts organizations. At this meeting, the proposed uniform rules were agreed upon by the NJSACB, several other regulatory bodies, numerous promoters of mixed martial arts events and other interested parties in attendance. At
11316-438: The sport in the late 1990s he was the prototype – he could strike with the best strikers; he could grapple with the best grapplers; his endurance was second to none. " — Mike Sloan describing UFC champion Frank Shamrock 's early dominance The high profile of modern MMA promotions such as UFC and Pride has fostered an accelerated development of the sport. The early 1990s saw a wide variety of traditional styles competing in
11439-482: The sport. Following these changes, the sport has seen increased popularity with a pay-per-view business that rivals boxing and professional wrestling . In ancient China , combat sport appeared in the form of Leitai , a no-holds-barred mixed combat sport that combined Chinese martial arts , boxing and wrestling. In ancient Greece , there was a sport called pankration , which featured grappling and striking skills similar to those found in modern MMA. Pankration
11562-483: The sport. However, early competition saw varying levels of success among disparate styles. In the early 1990s, practitioners of grappling based styles such as Brazilian jiu-jitsu dominated competition in the United States. Practitioners of striking based arts such as boxing , kickboxing , and karate , who were unfamiliar with submission grappling, proved to be unprepared to deal with its submission techniques . As competitions became more and more common, those with
11685-401: The technique of "ground and pound" developed by wrestling-based UFC pioneers such as Dan Severn , Don Frye and Mark Coleman . These wrestlers realized the need for the incorporation of strikes on the ground as well as on the feet, and incorporated ground striking into their grappling-based styles. Mark Coleman stated at UFC 14 that his strategy was to "Ground him and pound him", which may be
11808-569: The term mixed martial arts was in a review of UFC 1 by television critic Howard Rosenberg in 1993. Originally promoted as a competition to find the most effective martial arts for real unarmed combat, competitors from different fighting styles were pitted against one another in contests with relatively few rules. Later, individual fighters incorporated multiple martial arts into their style. MMA promoters were pressured to adopt additional rules to increase competitors' safety, to comply with sport regulations and to broaden mainstream acceptance of
11931-460: The then WBC lightweight champion and pound-for-pound king. On 6 December 2008, Khan scored a comeback win against Oisin Fagan with a second-round stoppage; Khan won the vacant WBA International lightweight title. Khan knocked Fagan down twice in the first round and Fagan's corner threw in the towel after he was knocked down again in the second. Following the fight, it emerged that Fagan had suffered
12054-456: The vacant WBC Silver title. Khan was too fast and too disciplined for Collazo, flooring him in the fourth round and twice in the tenth. The judges scored the fight 119–104, and 117–106 twice in Khan's favour. Khan and Collazo both incurred point deductions in round eight. Collazo hit Khan with a low blow while Khan was holding his head down. Collazo's failed approach resulted in a mismatch on the scorecards. Collazo fought with his hands down most of
12177-513: The world title in only my 22nd fight and at the age of just 22 is fantastic. Frank has done a great job getting the world title fight for me in Britain and now I have to go out win it." This would be Kotelnik's fourth title defence. Khan won by unanimous decision (UD), 120–108, 118–111, 118–111, in front of 10,000, and became the third-youngest Brit to win a world title, at the age of 22. Khan used his hand speed and fitness to go well ahead on points in
12300-655: The world. MMA gyms serve as specialized training centers where fighters develop their skills across various martial arts disciplines, such as Brazilian jiu-jitsu, wrestling, Muay Thai, and boxing. These gyms provide structured environments for athletes to prepare for competition, offering coaching, sparring, and conditioning programs. Certain gyms, such as the UFC Performance Institute offer facilities like cryotherapy chambers , underwater treadmills , and DEXA machines. The following are popular MMA gyms along with notable fighters that have trained out of them. As
12423-475: Was Bartitsu , which Edward William Barton-Wright founded in London in 1899. Combining catch wrestling , judo , boxing , savate , jujutsu and canne de combat (French stick fighting), Bartitsu was the first martial art known to have combined Asian and European fighting styles, and which saw MMA-style contests throughout England, pitting European catch wrestlers and Japanese judoka champions against representatives of various European wrestling styles. Among
12546-404: Was ITV's best Saturday night viewing figures of the month. By 2006, his fights were averaging between 6 million and 7 million viewers on ITV. Khan won his first regional title on 14 July 2007, beating Willie Limond at The O2 Arena to become Commonwealth lightweight champion . Khan was floored in the sixth round, but recovered to score a knock down in the following round. Limond
12669-479: Was a huge favourite. The fight took place on 6 September 2008 at the Manchester Evening News Arena , it was Khan's Sky Box Office debut. In the first round, Prescott came out fast and landed good shots; a stiff jab jerked Khan's head back and foreshadowed what was to come. Prescott landed a left hook on Khan's temple, dizzying his senses. Instead of holding, Khan tried to fire back, but was hit to
12792-573: Was against undefeated lightweight prospect Carlos Molina (17–0–1, 7 KOs). Molina would be moving up in weight for his first twelve-round fight. The fight was aired on Showtime , on 15 December 2012, and took place in the LA Sports Arena in California . Khan defeated Molina by TKO in the tenth round and won the WBC Silver light-welterweight title. Khan pushed Molina onto the back foot and landed
12915-498: Was announced that Khan would defend his WBA and IBF light-welterweight against mandatory challenger Lamont Peterson (29–1–1, 15 KOs). The fight would take place on 10 December in Peterson's home town of Washington, D.C. at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center . In front of a near sell out crowd of 8,647, Peterson defeated Khan by split decision (SD) in controversial fashion. Khan
13038-498: Was announced that Khan would fight former two-weight world champion Alexander (26–2, 14 KOs). The fight took place on 13 December at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Showtime in the US and Sky Sports in the UK. In front of 7,768 in attendance, Khan produced a dominant performance to secure a unanimous points victory over Alexander. All three judges scored heavily in Khan's favour, 120–108, 119–109 and 118–110. ESPN's Dan Rafael scored it
13161-427: Was best, began testing each other in their respective arts of kenpo, jujitsu, Chinese and American boxing and tang soo do . From this they developed kajukenbo , the first American mixed martial arts. In 1951, a high-profile grappling match was Masahiko Kimura vs. Hélio Gracie , which was wrestled between judoka Masahiko Kimura and Brazilian jiu jitsu founder Hélio Gracie in Brazil. Kimura defeated Gracie using
13284-433: Was blamed on Harrison's concerns that Khan's public engagements were interfering with his fight preparations. Dean Powell, who has trained former world champions Duke McKenzie and Lloyd Honeyghan , worked with Khan until a decision on a permanent trainer was made. In the same month, Khan had a training session in Las Vegas with Roger Mayweather , trainer and uncle of Floyd Mayweather Jr. Khan fought on 21 June 2008, at
13407-410: Was broadcast on Primetime in UK and HBO in the US. Round one saw a busy Khan as he fought from the outside and kept Judah away with jabs and straights. All four rounds were taken by Khan. Ultimately in the fifth round Judah was taken down with a right uppercut to the body, in which at first commentators believed it was a low blow, since Judah was showing signs of agonising pain, but when it was seen from
13530-476: Was coming in with my hands down and Danny took advantage of that. He countered very well against me." Khan's trainer Roach credited his opposite number, Angel García, for successfully goading Khan into fighting a slugfest, leaving himself vulnerable. According to CompuBox , Khan landed 92 of 206 punches thrown (45%), with 46 jabs and 46 power shots landed. García landed 65 of his 216 thrown (30%), 60 of which were power shots. Khan earned $ 950,000, while García had
13653-412: Was docked a point in rounds seven and twelve by referee Joe Cooper for pushing, although illegal pushing is not usually met with such harsh consequences. Peterson was dropped to the canvas twice, although the first time was counted as a slip instead of a legitimate knockdown. Both fighters boxed well and two judges scored it 113–112 to Peterson, with the other 115–110 to Khan. ESPN 's Dan Rafael scored
13776-412: Was finding it increasingly difficult to get fights in Thailand as his weight (70 kg) was not typical for Thailand, where competitive bouts tended to be at the lower weights. Roufus knocked Changpuek down twice with punches in the first round, breaking Changpuek's jaw, but lost by technical knockout in the fourth round due to the culmination of low kicks to the legs that he was unprepared for. This match
13899-463: Was formed by combining the already established wrestling and boxing traditions and, in Olympic terms, first featured in the 33rd Olympiad in 648 BC. All strikes and holds were allowed with the exception of biting and gouging, which were banned. The fighters, called pankratiasts, fought until someone could not continue or signaled submission by raising their index finger; there were no rounds. According to
14022-658: Was held under these rules, making it the first show conducted under a version of the modern rules. In April 2000, the California State Athletic Commission voted unanimously in favor of regulations that later became the foundation for the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts . However, when the legislation was sent to the California capital in Sacramento for review, it was determined that the sport fell outside
14145-477: Was knocked out by elbows. The Japanese fighter who lost, Kenji Kurosaki, was a kyokushin instructor, rather than a contender, and that he had stood in as a substitute for the absent chosen fighter. In June of the same year, karateka and future kickboxer Tadashi Sawamura faced top Thai fighter Samarn Sor Adisorn: Sawamura was knocked down sixteen times on his way to defeat. Sawamura went on to incorporate what he learned in that fight in kickboxing tournaments. During
14268-537: Was open to a rematch. Khan landed 273 of 603 punches thrown (45%) and Maidana landed 156 of 767 thrown (20%). The fight was awarded Fight of the Year by the Boxing Writers Association of America . On 4 February 2011, Khan announced a deal had been signed to defend his WBA title against European champion Paul McCloskey in his next fight, who was unbeaten in 22 fights and was ranked world number 10. The fight
14391-624: Was paid $ 600,000 for the fight. The fight averaged 762,000 and peaked 887,000 viewers. After Khan himself initially announced the fight on his wife's YouTube channel on 3 April, a welterweight bout against former WBO light-welterweight champion Chris Algieri (20–1, 8 KOs) was later finalised to take to place on 29 May 2015, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York . Khan won the bout by UD, winning on all three judges scorecards (117–111 twice and 115–113). Khan counterpunched effectively from
14514-423: Was reintroduced to the United States by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). UFC promoters initially pitched the event as a real-life fighting video game tournament similar to Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat . The sport gained international exposure and widespread publicity when jiu-jitsu fighter Royce Gracie won the first Ultimate Fighting Championship tournament, submitting three challengers in
14637-501: Was retired by his corner at the end of round eight due to a broken nose and suspected jaw damage. On 2 February 2008, Khan was scheduled to fight Martin Kristjansen , but illness forced the Dane to withdraw. Instead, Khan had to defend his Commonwealth title against late replacement Gairy St. Clair at the ExCel Arena , London. It was his first fight to last all twelve rounds and he won via
14760-412: Was scheduled to take place at the MEN Arena on 6 April. Khan won a sixth-round TD after McCloskey was cut by an accidental clash of heads and could not go on in the estimation of the ring doctor. The heads of Khan and McCloskey collided about two minutes into the sixth round, causing a bad cut on the inside of McCloskey's left eyebrow. Another tactical few rounds followed, with Khan the main aggressor. In
14883-673: Was slammed to the mat in two minutes. The next publicized encounter occurred in the late 1890s when future heavyweight boxing champion Bob Fitzsimmons took on European wrestling champion Ernest Roeber . In September 1901, Frank "Paddy" Slavin , who had been a contender for Sullivan's boxing title, knocked out future world wrestling champion Frank Gotch in Dawson City , Canada. The judo-practitioner Ren-nierand, who gained fame after defeating George Dubois, would fight again in another similar contest, which he lost to Ukrainian Catch wrestler Ivan Poddubny. Another early example of mixed martial arts
15006-472: Was the 1976 Ali vs. Inoki exhibition bout, fought between boxer Muhammad Ali and wrestler Antonio Inoki in Japan, where it later inspired the foundation of Shooto in 1985, Pancrase in 1993, and the Pride Fighting Championships in 1997. In the 1990s, the Gracie family brought their Brazilian jiu-jitsu style , first developed in Brazil from the 1920s, to the United States—which culminated in
15129-421: Was the first popular fight which showcased the power of such low kicks to a predominantly Western audience. The movement that led to the creation of present-day mixed martial arts scenes emerged from a confluence of several earlier martial arts scenes: the vale tudo events in Brazil, rooftop fights in Hong Kong's street fighting culture, and professional wrestlers , especially in Japan . Vale tudo began in
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