The Ultimate Fighting Championship (later renamed UFC 1: The Beginning) was the first mixed martial arts event by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), held at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado, on November 12, 1993. The event was broadcast live on pay-per-view and later released on home video.

UFC 1 used an eight-man tournament format, with the winner receiving $50,000. The tournament had no weight classes and consisted of single-round fights to the finish. The match only ended by submission, knockout, throwing in the towel, or referee stoppage due to a severe cut or faked injury. Gloves were allowed as shown by Art Jimmerson in his Quarterfinal bout against Royce Gracie, Jimmerson had only one boxing glove on.

Despite being billed as having "no rules" there were limitations on what the fighters could do, including no biting and no eye gouging. Royce Gracie won the tournament by defeating Gerard Gordeau via tap out due to a rear naked choke. The referees for UFC 1 were Joao Alberto Barreto and Helio Vigio, two veteran vale tudo referees from Brazil.

Kenneth Wayne Shamrock (born Kenneth Wayne Kilpatrick; February 11, 1964) is an American mixed martial artist, UFC Hall of Famer and professional wrestler. Shamrock emerged as one of the biggest stars in the history of mixed martial arts, headlining over 15 main events and co-main events in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Pride Fighting Championships during the course of his career and set numerous pay per view records with his drawing power. Shamrock is widely considered to be a legendary figure and icon in the sport of mixed martial arts. Shamrock was named The World's Most Dangerous Man by ABC News in a special entitled "The World's Most Dangerous Things" in the early part of his UFC career, a moniker which has become synonymous as his nickname.

Shamrock became known early on in the UFC for his rivalry with Royce Gracie. After fighting to a draw with Gracie in the inaugural Superfight, he became the first UFC Superfight Champion after defeating Dan Severn at UFC 6; the title was eventually renamed the UFC Heavyweight Championship when weight categories were introduced to the UFC. He was also the first foreign MMA Champion in Japan, winning the title of King of Pancrase. During his reign as the UFC Superfight Champion, he was widely considered the #1 mixed martial artist in the world. Shamrock was also ranked by Inside MMA as one of the top 10 greatest mixed martial arts fighters of all time.

Royce Gracie (Portuguese: [ˈʁɔjsi ˈɡɾejsi], English: /ˈrɔɪs ˈgreɪsiː/; born December 12, 1966) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist, a UFC Hall of Famer and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. A legend and pioneer in the sport of mixed martial arts, he is widely considered to be the most influential figure in the history of modern MMA.

Gracie gained fame for his domination in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He became known for beating opponents much larger than he was, and between 1993 and 1994, he was the tournament winner of UFC 1, UFC 2, UFC 4, and fought to a draw with Ken Shamrock in the championship match in the Superfight at UFC 5. Gracie popularized Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and revolutionized mixed martial arts with his results contributing to the movement towards grappling and cross-training in the sport.

He holds the most submission victories in UFC history with 11, which he earned between UFC 1 and UFC 4.

Royce is a member of the Gracie family. He is the son of Hélio Gracie (Helio along with his older brother Carlos Gracie are the originators of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu—Modern Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) and spent his childhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As a toddler, Gracie learned Jiu-Jitsu from his father and his older brothers Rorion, Relson, and Rickson Gracie. He began competing at the age of 8 and by the time he was 16 had attained the level of blue belt.

Renzo Gracie (English pronunciation: /ˈhɛnzoʊ ˈɡræsiː/; born March 11, 1967) is a Gracie Barra Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Carlos Gracie Jr. and a retired mixed martial arts fighter. He is member of the Gracie family of Brazil. He is the son of Robson Gracie, grandson of Carlos Gracie, nephew of Carlos Gracie, Jr. and grandnephew of Helio Gracie.

A world famous Jiu-Jitsu coach, Gracie has helped train a number of professional fighters such as: Matt Serra, Ricardo Almeida, Georges St. Pierre, Frank Edgar, Rolles Gracie, Chris Weidman, Kyra Gracie and Roy Nelson. His brothers Ralph Gracie and the late Ryan Gracie were also famous fighters.

Gracie has competed both in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and mixed martial arts events such as the PRIDE Fighting Championships, the International Fight League, RINGS, Martial Arts Reality Superfighting (MARS) and the World Combat Championship.

On February 10, 2007 Gracie won a match against former UFC light heavyweight champion Frank Shamrock for upstart MMA promotion EliteXC on its debut night Saturday February 10, 2007, on Showtime. Gracie was able to take Frank down fairly easily after being overmatched on his feet and was still able to dominate on the ground for most of the match before Shamrock was disqualified by referee Herb Dean due to landing numerous illegal knee strikes to the back of Gracie's head while both fighters were on the ground. Shamrock had already been given one warning earlier in the match for illegal strikes to the back of Gracie's head. After the match, Gracie had to be helped out of the ring and back to his dressing room by his team allegedly due to receiving a concussion from the strikes.
Renzo formerly coached a team, the New York Pitbulls, for the International Fight League.

Anderson da Silva (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈɐ̃deʁsõ ˈsiwvɐ]; born April 14, 1975) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. He is the current UFC Middleweight Champion and the promotion's longest reigning champion. With 14 consecutive wins and 9 title defenses, Silva holds the longest winning streak and title defense streak in UFC history.

Silva is ranked as the number one Middleweight in the world by multiple publications, and is the consensus No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world according to ESPN, Sherdog, Yahoo! Sports, MMAFighting.com and other publications. UFC president Dana White has proclaimed Silva as "the greatest mixed martial artist ever."^{[undue weight? – discuss]} Silva is also the last Cage Rage Middleweight Champion and a former Shooto Middleweight Champion. Besides the UFC and Cage Rage, Silva has fought for a number of other MMA promotions including the Pride Fighting Championships, Shooto and Rumble on the Rock.

Although known primarily for his mastery of Muay Thai striking, Silva is also a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blackbelt, a rank he earned in 2006 from Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira who follows Gracie Lineage through Carlson Gracie, like Murilo Bustamante and the Brazilian Top Team. He began martial arts training at the age of 14, training Tae kwon do and earning a black belt by the age of 18. He is also a black belt in Judo and a yellow rope in Capoeira.