How UFC 1 was almost derailed at the 11th hour .
Fox Sports published an excerpt today from Chapter 10 of IS THIS LEGAL?, Art Davie’s behind-the-scenes, tell-all book about how the event almost got drailed 24 hours before the show. Check out the link:
Fox shared how the idea Art Davie had been carrying around for years was about to come true. With the help of partners Rorion Gracie and Semaphore Entertainment Group (Campbell McLaren as the point man), Davie was about to change martial arts and combat sports forever.
No one was sure what would happen at UFC 1 on Nov. 12, 1993. And then, 24 hours before the event was scheduled to occur, there was a serious roadblock: the whole thing almost didn’t happen.
In an excerpt from Chapter 10 (There Are No Rules) from his new book with Sean Wheelock, “Is this Legal?,” Davie tells the tale of the fighter meeting the night prior to the first UFC and how if not for massive sumo wrestler, Teila Tuli, MMA might not even be a thing today.
The UFC was a joint development between W.O.W. Promotions, a Colorado LLC owned by Art Davie and Rorion Gracie and Semaphore Entertainment Group, a New York corporation founded by Bob Meyrowitz. The first UFC took place on November 12, 1993 at McNichols Sports Arena and was broadcast on PPV-TV.
IS THIS LEGAL? is available today (July 1, 2014) in bookstores, as well as AMAZON, BARNES & NOBLE and the publisher, ASCEND BOOKS (www.ascendbooks.com)