By MMAMemories.com:

The Association of Boxing Commissions, know throughout boxing circles as the ABC, has for years appointed an official record keeper for boxing, which served as a centralized database to which all regulatory bodies could pull information. With the rapid emergence of mixed martial arts (MMA), the organization felt the need to engage a similar outfit to provide information for common access.

The ABC selected a company called MMA, LLC to maintain this database. This entity, run by Kirik Jenness and Gabriel Smallman, also operates the website MMA.tv, which covers the mixed martial arts world.

The way the record-keeping process works is that all of the commissions throughout the United States that regulate MMA will be required to send their results in to the MMA LLC people, usually within a period of about 48 hours. The record-keeper will then enter it into a database, which will have the strength of being the product of results that are certified by regulatory bodies. Fighters who have been knocked out and are suspended by a jurisdiction will be placed on a centralized Suspension list, so that those suspensions, as well as any other disciplinary actions, can be honored by all the other jurisdictions.

Most likely the commissions will also send past results in, so as to combined with MMA LLC’s existing body of data to form what would be known as an “historical database.” This will ideally allow for commissions to able to easily access a record of any fighter who is active in the United States, going back for as long as that fighter has been active, in order to assist them in the process of approving matches. The ultimate goal of course is to ensure the competitiveness of matches, as well as the preservation of fighter safety. With data kept in a central location it is more difficult for a fighter to be knocked out in one state and fight in another before their suspension will have expired.

A company called Fight Fax is responsible for maintaining records in boxing, over which the ABC supervises, not in an official government capacity per see but as a cooperative trade association of all member commissions. As per the Professional Boxing Safety Act and the Muhammad Ali Act, a commission that places a fighter on suspension will have that fighter entered by the record-keeper on the national suspension list, and the suspending jurisdiction must issue an order to take the fighter off that list when the conditions of such a suspension are satisfied.

Reportedly a number of applicants made presentations to the ABC, and after a screening process, the decision was made by a special committee in Kansas City, not far from where the association, headed by Missouri’s Tim Lueckenhoff, is headquartered.

The fight between Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar may prove to be a significant event in MMA history, one way or another. It was indeed the first time a competitor who was both an Olympic wrestler and a pro wrestling champion had ever competed in the UFC.

It was not his experience with the WWE, but his background in amateur wrestling, that was a significant skill employed by many successful MMA fighters, among them former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion Randy Couture. If there was anything that made Lesnar a therat, it’s that he was “legitimate” in that one major component of a mixed martial artist’s repertoire.

But the driver behind interest in this fight was Lesnar’s heavyweight title in World Wrestling Entertainment, and the fans who were familiar with him from that area of endeavor. And it drove the betting on the fight as well. Lesnar wound up a -175 favorite at the online sportsbook BetUS.com, dspite the fact that it was Mir who was the seasoned MMA combatant who had in fact been the UFC’s heavyweight champion, while Lesnar was the newcomer.

But the public often drives betting odds, and in this case the public that was “getting down” on the fight consisted largely of those who were obviously impressed by Lesnar’s exploits in the choreographed world of pro wrestling.

Interest within the wrestling community was considerable, since one of their own was looking to conquer new territory. While it can be safely said that an appreciable amount of interest in MMA came from fans of professional wrestling, it was readily apparent that Lesnar’s involvement was bringing even more fans over, and it had its effect.

On his blog, WWE television announcer Jim Ross wrote:

“All my friends that attended the UFC 81 event said without question that Lesnar was the ’star attraction’ of the night and that most fans were there to see him, especially many of the celebs in attendance,”

Lesnar lost his fight Mir, but perhaps mixed martial arts in general, and the UFC in particular, won. That’s because even though everyone by now is aware of the sport, if Lesnar’s participation brought some people closer to the action and create some fans, the long-term benefits of that will accrue.

VIVA LAS VEGAS
There has been a total of 102 live UFC events through the end of 2007. Thirty-nine of those events, or 38.2%, have been held in the state of Nevada, and all of those have been in Las Vegas. Each of those Las Vegas events have taken place since Zuffa LLC (Lorenzo Fertiita, Dana White) took over the UFC, which means that 56.5% of all events in the “new era” of the UFC have been in Las Vegas.

The first Las Vegas show was “UFC 33: Victory in Vegas,” which took place on September 28, 2001, just a couple of weeks after the 9/11 attacks. Dave Menne, Jens Pulver and Tito Ortiz all won title bouts on the show, which was the first ever to be officially sanctioned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC).

UFC events have been held in eight different individual venues in Las Vegas. Here is the breakdown:

* Mandalay Bay Events Center — 14
* MGM Grand Arena — 9
* Hard Rock Hotel & Casino — 7
* Palms Casino Resort — 4
* Cox Pavilion — 2
* Red Rock Resort Spa & Casino — 1
* Thomas & Mack Arena — 1
* Bellagio Hotel & Casino — 1

INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR
Much ballyhoo surrounded the UFC’s April 21, 2007 show at the Manchester Evening News Arena in England. In this event, Gabriel Gonzalez defeated Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic to become the top contender for Randy Couture’s UFC heavyweight title. But this was not the first UFC event held outside the U.S., nor was it the first the Zuffa crossed the pond either.

UFC 38: Brawl at the Hall was held in July of 2002 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, where Matt Hughes beat Carlos Newton to retain his UFC welterweight crown. the first-ever UFC event held outside the U.S. was the “Ultimate Japan,” held on December 21, 1997 in Yokohama, Japan.

* The first UFC event that was held outside the continental U.S. was UFC 8: David vs. Goliath, which took place February 16, 1996 at the Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

There have been eight UFC shows that took place outside the United States. Here is the breakdown…

* Ultimate Japan — 12/21/97 — Yokohama, Japan
* Ultimate Brazil — 10/16/98 — Sao Paolo, Brazil
* UFC 23: Ultimate Japan 2 — 11/19/99 — Chiba, Japan
* UFC 25: UItimate Japan 3 — 4/14/00 — Tokyo, Japan
* UFC 29: Defense of the Belts — 12/16/00 — Tokyo, Japan
* UFC 38: Brawl at the Hall — 7/13/02 — London, England
* UFC 70: Nations Collide — 4/21/07 — Manchester, England
* UFC 72: Victory — 6/16/07 — Belfast, Northern Ireland

UFC is planning to have its first 2008 show at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle, England. The title is UFC 80: Rapid Fire, with B.J. Penn slated to fight Joe Stevenson in an interim lightweight championship bout.

CALIFORNIA HERE WE COME
Since the state of California legalized and set forth regulations for mixed martial arts, the UFC has scheduled seven events in the Golden State. The first was UFC 59: Reality Check, held at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim on April 15, 2006. The citizens of Orange County gave the UFC a warm welcome indeed. The show was the fastest to sell out in UFC history, producing a live gate of $2,191,450 on attendance of 13,060, according to figures provided by the California State Athletic Commission.
On that show, Tim Sylvia defeated Andrei Arlovski to win the UFC heavyweight title.
Other shows that have been held in California through the end of 2007:
* UFC 60: Hughes vs. Gracie — 5/27/06 — Los Angeles
* UFC 63: Hughes vs. Penn — 9/23/06 — Anaheim
* UFC 65: Bad Intentions — 11/18/06 — Sacramento
* UFC Fight Night 7 — 12/13/06 — Miramar (Marine Corps Air Station)
* UFC 73: Stacked — 7/7/07 — Sacramento
* UFC 76: Knockout — 9/22/07 — Anaheim

ON A STREAK IN VEGAS
The UFC, under the stewardship of Zuffa LLC, has been known to like to move around, rotating to a number of proven venues. But during one period - from November 2005 to April 2006 - six consecutive events were held in Las Vegas, the longest such string in UFC history. The streak began with the finale of The Ultimate Fighter 2, held at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on November 5, 2005. It also ended at the Hard Rock on April 6, 2006 with Ultimate Fight Night 4.

Events during that time were held not only at the Hard Rock, but at the MGM Grand Arena and the Mandalay Bay Events Center. After a couple of shows in California, the UFC then held five more events in a row in Vegas. All told, from January 31, 2004 to August 26, 2006, 20 of the UFC’s 26 live events took place in Las Vegas. Of course, the UFC is headquartered in Las Vegas, where Zuffa LLC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta runs his family’s Station Casinos empire, and he is also a former member of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, so it makes all the sense in the world to call it home.

UFC HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONS
Fighter, Date won title (specific show)
Mark Coleman, February 7 1997 (UFC 12)
Maurice Smith, July 27 1997 (UFC 14)
Randy Couture, December 21 1997 (UFC Japan)
Bas Rutten, May 7 1999 (UFC 20)
Kevin Randleman, November 19 1999 (UFC 23)
Randy Couture (2nd reign), November 17, 2000 (UFC 28)
Josh Barnett, March 22 2002 (UFC 36)
Ricco Rodriguez, September 27 2002 (UFC 39)
Tim Sylvia, February 28 2003 (UFC 41)
Frank Mir, June 19 2004 (UFC 48)
Andrei Arlovski (interim), February 5 2005 (UFC 51)
Andrei Arlovski (won undisputed), August 12 2005 (UFC 55)
Tim Sylvia (2nd reign), April 15 2006 (UFC 59)
Randy Couture (3rd reign), March 3 2007 (UFC 68)

UFC LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONS
Frank Shamrock, December 21 1997 (UFC Japan)
Tito Ortiz, April 14 2000 (UFC 25)
Randy Couture (interim), June 6 2003 (UFC 43)
Randy Couture (undisputed), September 26 2003 (UFC 44)
Vitor Belfort, January 31 2004 (UFC 46)
Randy Couture (2nd reign), August 21 2004 (UFC 49) ,
Chuck Liddell April 16 2005 (UFC 52)
Quinton Jackson, May 26 2007 (UFC 71)

UFC MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONS
Dave Menne, September 28 2001 (UFC 33)
Murilo Bustamante (later stripped), January 11 2002 (UFC 35)
Evan Tanner, February 5 2005 (UFC 51)
Rich Franklin, June 4 2005 (UFC 53)
Anderson Silva, October 14 2006 (UFC 64)

UFC WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPIONS
Pat Miletich, October 16 1998 (UFC Brazil)
Carlos Newton, May 4 2001 (UFC 31)
Matt Hughes, November 2 2001 (UFC 34)
B.J. Penn (later stripped), January 31 2004 (UFC 46)
Matt Hughes (2nd reign), October 22 2004 (UFC 50)
Georges St. Pierre, November 18 2006 (UFC 65)
Matt Serra, April 7 2007 (UFC 69)

UFC LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPIONS
Jens Pulver (later stripped), February 23 2001 (UFC 30)
Sean Sherk, October 14 2006 (UFC 64)
BJ Penn, Jan 19, 2008 (UFC 80)

HEAVYWEIGHT
*Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira — defeated Heath Herring — November 3, 2001 (PRIDE 17), Tokyo, Japan
* Fedor Emelianenko — defeated Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera — March 16, 2003 (PRIDE 25), Yokohama, Japan

MIDDLEWEIGHT
* Wanderlei Silva — defeated Kazushi Sakuraba — November 3, 2001 (PRIDE 17), Tokyo, Japan
* Dan Henderson — defeated Wanderlei Silva — February 24, 2007 (PRIDE 33), Las Vegas, Nevada

WELTERWEIGHT
* Dan Henderson — defeated Murilo Bustamante — December 31, 2005 (PRIDE Shockwave 2005), Saitama, Japan

LIGHTWEIGHT
* Takanori Gomi — defeated Hayato Sakurai — December 31, 2005 (PRIDE Shockwave 2005), Saitama, Japan

TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS
2000 Open-weight — Mark Coleman
2003 Middleweight — Wanderlei Silva
2004 Heavyweight — Fedor Emelianenko
2005 Middleweight — Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
2005 Welterweight — Dan Henderson
2005 Lightweight — Takanori Gomi
2006 Open-weight — Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic
2006 Welterweight — Kazuo Misaki

UFC 1
Royce Gracie d. Gerard Gordeau — November 12, 1993

UFC 2
Royce Gracie d. Patrick Smith — March 11, 1994

UFC 3
Steve Jennum d. Harold Howard — September 9, 1994

UFC 4
Royce Gracie d. Dan Severn — December 16, 1994

UFC 5
Dan Severn d. Dave Beneteau — February 16, 1995

UFC 6
Oleg Taktarov d. David Abbott — July 14, 1995

UFC 7
Marco Ruas d. Paul Varelans — September 8, 1995
The Ultimate Ultimate
Dan Severn d. Oleg Taktarov — December 16, 1995

UFC 8
Don Frye d. Gary Goodridge — February 16, 1996

UFC 10
Mark Coleman d. Don Frye — July 12, 1996

UFC 11
Mark Coleman d. Scott Ferrozzo — September 20, 1996
The Ultimate Ultimate 2
Don Frye d. David Abbott — December 7, 1996

UFC 12 — February 7, 1997
Heavyweight: Vitor Belfort d. Scott Ferrozzo
Lightweight: Jerry Bohlander d. Nick Sanzo

UFC 13 — May 30, 1997
Heavyweight Randy Couture d. Steven Graham
Lightweight : Guy Mezger d. Tito Ortiz

UFC 14 — July 27, 1997
Heavyweight Mark Kerr d. Dan Bobish
Middleweight Kevin Jackson d. Tony Fryklund

UFC 15 — October 17, 1997
Heavyweight Mark Kerr d. Dwayne Cason
Ultimate Japan — December 21, 1997
Heavyweight Kazushi Sakuraba Marcus Silveira

UFC 16
Lightweight: Pat Miletich d. Chris Brennan — March 13, 1998

UFC 17
Middleweight: Dan Henderson d. Carlos Newton — May 15, 1998

Ultimate Japan 2
Middleweight: Kenichi Yamamoto d. Shamoji Fujii — November 14, 1999

The Ultimate Fighter 1 — April 9, 2005
Light heavyweight: Forrest Griffin d. Stephan Bonnar
Middleweight Diego Sanchez d. Kenny Florian

The Ultimate Fighter 2 — November 5, 2005
Heavyweight: Rashad Evans d. Brad Imes
Welterweight: Joe Stevenson d. Luke Cummo

The Ultimate Fighter 3 — June 24, 2006
Middleweight Kendall Grove d. Ed Herman
Light heavyweight Michael Bisping d. Josh Haynes

The Ultimate Fighter 4 — November 11, 2006
Middleweight: Travis Lutter d. Patrick Côté
Welterweight: Matt Serra d. Chris Lytle

The Ultimate Fighter 5 — June 23, 2007
Lightweight Nathan Diaz d. Manvel Gamburyan

PANCRASE CHAMPIONS — Designated weight divisions

FEATHERWEIGHT
* Yoshiro Maeda — defeated Daiki Hata — August 27, 2006, Yokohama, Japan

WELTERWEIGHT
* Kiuma Kunioku defeated Takafumi Ito — July 28, 2002, Tokyo, Japan
(Kunioku vacated title in September 2004)
* Katsuya Inoue (was declared an interim champion by a special committee because the prospective opponent was injured) — May 1, 2005, Kanagawa, Japan
* Daizo Ishige — defeated Katsuya Inoue for the undisputed title — August 27, 2006, Kanagawa, Japan
* Katsuya Inoue — defeated Fabricio Nascimento for interim title — July 27, 2007, Tokyo, Japan

MIDDLEWEIGHT
* Nathan Marquardt — defeated Shonie Carter — Sept. 24, 2000, Kanagawa, Japan
* Kiuma Kunioku — December 1, 2001, Kanagawa, Japan
* Nathan Marquardt (2nd reign) Dec. 21, 2002 Tokyo, Japan
* Ricardo Almeida — Nov. 30, 2003 Tokyo, Japan
(Almeida vacates title and retires in July 2004)
* Nathan Marquardt (3rd reign) — defeated Kazuo Misaki — November 7, 2004, Chiba, Japan
(Marquardt vacates title in October 2006 to join UFC)
* Yuichi Nakanishi — defeated Izuru Takeuchi — December 2, 2006, Tokyo, Japan

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
* Keiichiro Yamamiya — defeated Ikuhisa Minowa — Sept. 24, 2000, Kanagawa, Japan
* Sanae Kikuta — defeated Ikuhisa Minowa — Sept. 30, 2001, Kanagawa, Japan
* Yuki Kondo — Nov. 30, 2003 — Tokyo, Japan

HEAVYWEIGHT
* Yoshiki Takahashi — defeated Shamoji Fujii — December 1, 2001, Kanagawa, Japan
(Takahashi later vacated his Heavyweight title)
* Kestutis “Tiger” Arbocius — defeated Poai Suganuma — August 27, 2006, Kanagawa, Japan
(Arbocius was later stripped of his title due to injury)
* Assuerio Silva — defeated Tatsuya Mizuno — May 30, 2007, Tokyo, Japan

SUPER HEAVYWEIGHT
* Tsuyoshi Kosaka — defeated Ron Waterman — November 7, 2004, Chiba, Japan
(Kosaka vacated his title in January 2006)

PANCRASE CHAMPIONS — OPENWEIGHT
Name Date Location Defenses
* Ken Shamrock — defeated Manabu Yamada — Dec. 17, 1994, Tokyo, Japan
* Minoru Suzuki — May 13, 1995, Tokyo, Japan
* Bas Rutten — Sept. 1, 1995, Tokyo, Japan
* Frank Shamrock — defeated Minoru Suzuki for interim title (Rutten had injury) — January 28, 1996, Kanagawa, Japan
* Bas Rutten — defeated Frank Shamrock for undisputed title –May 16, 1996 Tokyo, Japan
(Rutten vacated title in October 1996)
* Masakatsu Funaki — defeated Jason DeLucia — Dec. 15, 1996, Japan
* Yuki Kondo — April 27, 1997, Tokyo, Japan
* Masakatsu Funaki (2nd reign– ) Dec. 20, 1997 Kanagawa, Japan
* Guy Mezger — April 26, 1998, Kanagawa, Japan
(Mazger vacated title in February 1999 to join UFC)
* Yuki Kondo (2nd reign) — defeated Semmy Schilt — April 18, 1999 Kanagawa, Japan
* Semmy Schilt — Nov. 28, 1999 Osaka, Japan
* Josh Barnett — defeated Yuki Kondo — August 31, 2003, Tokyo, Japan

TANK ABBOTT……………………..Huntington Beach, CA
JOSH BARNETT……………………Seattle, WA
PHIL BARONI……………………….Massapequa, NY
JERRY BOHLANDER……………..Napa, CA
MARK COLEMAN………………….Fremont, O.
RANDY COUTURE…………………Lynwood, WA
NICK DIAZ……………………………Stockton, CA
RASHAD EVANS…………………..Niagara Falls, NY
JON FITCH……………………………Fort Wayne, IN
KENNY FLORIAN…………………..Westwood, MA
RICH FRANKLIN…………………….Cincinnati, O.
DON FRYE…………………………..Sierra Vista, AZ
FORREST GRIFFIN…………………Columbus, O.
KENDALL GROVE………………….Maui, HI
DENNIS HALLMAN…………………Yelm, WA
MATT HAMILL………………………..Cincinnati, O.
DAN HENDERSON…………………Apple Valley, CA
HEATH HERRING…………………..Amarillo, TX
JEREMY HORN……………………..Omaha, NE
ROGER HUERTA……………………Los Angeles, CA
MATT HUGHES……………………..Hillsboro, IL
ENSON INOUE………………………Honolulu, HI
QUINTON JACKSON……………….Memphis, TN
KEITH JARDINE……………………..Butte, MT
STEVE JENNUM……………………Omaha, NE
MARK KERR…………………………Toledo, O.
JOSH KOSCHECK………………….Waynesburg, PA
ROBBIE LAWLER………………….San Diego, CA
CHUCK LIDDELL……………………Santa Barbara, CA
DEAN LISTER……………………….San Diego, CA
TRAVIS LUTTER…………………….Gann Valley, SD
CHRIS LYTLE………………………..Indianapolis, IN
DAVE MENNE……………………….Minneapolis, MN
GUY MEZGER……………………….Houston, TX
PAT MILETICH……………………….Davenport, IA
FRANK MIR…………………………..Las Vegas, NV
JEFF MONSON……………………..Olympia, WA
K.J. NOONS………………………….Kailua-Kona, HI
TITO ORTIZ……………………………Huntington Beach, CA
B.J. PENN…………………………….Hilo, HI
JENS PULVER………………………Sunnyside, WA
KEVIN RANDLEMAN……………….Sandusky, O.
RICCO RODRIGUEZ………………..New York, NY
DIEGO SANCHEZ…………………..Albuquerque, NM
MATT SERRA……………………….East Meadow, NY
DAN SEVERN……………………….Coldwater, MI
FRANK SHAMROCK………………Santa Monica, CA
KEN SHAMROCK…………………..Macon, GA
SEAN SHERK……………………….St. Francis, MN
MAURICE SMITH……………………Seattle, WA
PETE SPRATT………………………Denison, TX
JOE STEVENSON………………….Torrence, CA
MIKE SWICK…………………………Houston, TX
TIM SYLVIA…………………………..Eastbrook, ME
EVAN TANNER………………………Amarillo, TX
BRANDON VERA……………………Norfolk, VA

PHIL BARONI……………………….Central Michigan
MARK COLEMAN………………….Ohio State
RANDY COUTURE…………………Oklahoma State
RASHAD EVANS…………………..Michigan State
JON FITCH……………………………Purdue
KENNY FLORIAN…………………..Boston College
RICH FRANKLIN…………………….Cincinnati
DON FRYE…………………………..Arizona St./Oklahoma St.
MATT HAMILL……………………….Rochester Inst. of Technology.
DAN HENDERSON…………………Cal St.-Fullerton/Arizona St.
ROGER HUERTA……………………Augsburg (MN)
MATT HUGHES……………………..Eastern Illinois
MARK KERR…………………………Syracuse
JOSH KOSCHECK………………….Edinboro (PA)
CHUCK LIDDELL……………………Cal Poly
TRAVIS LUTTER…………………….Northern State (ND)
JEFF MONSON……………………..Oregon St./Illinois
TITO ORTIZ……………………………Cal St.-Bakersfield
JENS PULVER………………………Boise State
KEVIN RANDLEMAN……………….Ohio State
DAN SEVERN……………………….Arizona State
KEN SHAMROCK…………………..Shasta College (CA)
BRANDON VERA……………………Old Dominion