As we near the middle of 2012, it never ceases to amaze me at just how far the sport has come since the early ’90s, when the UFC first came to be.
The sport has expanded greatly since then, enjoying high periods of prosperity and suffering low periods of interest, and all that comes in between.
Through it all, it’s the fights that have sustained the fans, to be sure, but there has been so much more to it than that.
Here is a look at what I think have been the 50 most important events in the history of the sport.
You will notice that I have focused almost solely upon the happenings of the sport since its inception in America, as that is the time frame that I know best.
There are no doubt many important events—and for the sake of this piece, events are not just fight cards, but moments in time pertaining to many aspects of the sport—that occurred before the UFC came into being, especially in Brazil and Japan; but they have not been included here because I am not a native of either Brazil or Japan, and thus cannot accurately gauge their importance.
So read and hopefully enjoy, and of course please do share your opinions, for this is not my sport, but our sport, and yours is just as good as mine, if not more so.