MMA or Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that encompasses multiple fighting styles into the one discipline to form the most complete and comprehensive fighting style. MMA can be traced back to ancient Greece in the form of Pankration where there were 
few rules and the styles used in combat were very primitive. Mixed Martial Arts has slowly evolved over the years to incorporate more and more fighting styles, up until the mid to late 90’s fighters were still very one dimensional and it was uncommon to see a pure boxer vs wrestler or karate expert vs Brazilian Jui Jitsu practitioner.
At present MMA is now the fastest growing sport in the world and is increasing in popularity by the day. The biggest player in the MMA scene is by far the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), in 2010 the UFC held 6 of the top 10 highest selling pay per view events and has surpassed all other popular combat sports including boxing, WWE wrestling and kickboxing.
Previously the MMA scene was dominated by 4 major players being strike force, WEC, Pride and the UFC. The market place has now changed with the UFC buying out the three other major players in the market and created a virtual monopoly whereby the UFC hosts the biggest events with the most talented fighters. The merger of these corporations has helped solidify all the best fighters in professional MMA and added to the excitement and popularity of events.
So how did MMA get here and become the fastest growing sport in the world? And make the UFC one of the biggest companies in the entertainment industry turning over profits in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Like any highly popular commodity the answer lies in the product and its ability to entertain the masses.
All other combat sports in the market today are relatively one dimensional, in boxing you can only punch, with a wrestling match all you can do is throw someone on the ground and pin them down. In MMA we see the combination of Muay Thai, Boxing, Wrestling, Judo and Brazilian Jui Jitsu, this combination of fighting styles produces a far more exciting bout than what you would experience in other combat sports.
The final piece to the MMA puzzle is the use of theatrics and dramatization between fighters. This is arguable the biggest contributing factor to the success of the UFC. In January of 2005 Lorenzo and Frank Fertita launched the first episode of the Ultimate Fighter in a last ditch effort to gain main stream acceptance of the UFC. The Ultimate Fighter was a reality based fight show where contestants battled each other over a number of weeks to gain a 6 fight contract from the UFC. The show had it all the heroes, the villains, drama and triumph, it showed the main stream public that MMA was a real sport and the people who competed in it were real athletes and not the thugs the media portrayed them to be. The UFC had cracked the code and paved a way to success; Dana White (UFC President) later went on record with the following comment “It’s amazing to think…. how close we came to not being here today. If it weren’t for what these guys did, I don’t know if there would even be a UFC. I’ll never forget these guys.”
So why is MMA the most popular fighting sport in the world? MMA has cracked the code and created a sport that has the most exciting fights integrating all the best martial arts forms in the world and then melded that with high impact drama where the crowd can develop a bond with their favourite fighters.