I have no idea why, but not once have I ever looked up "Mixed Martial Arts" on wikipedia. Not really for educational purporses but out of pure curiousity just to see what was said. So, I did it about 3 minutes ago. Some interesting stuff that I didn't know. Well, only the part about the World Heavyweight Champion boxers fighting wrestlers... While different forms of unorganized, no-rules, unarmed combat predate history, civilization, and the human species itself (apes have been observed engaging in hand-to-hand combats), the earliest documented, organized, minimal-rules fighting event was the ancient Greek [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pankration"] This content is protected [/ame], which was introduced into the [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Games"] This content is protected [/ame] in 648 B.C. This content is protected Greek pankration later inspired the more violent [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etruria"] This content is protected [/ame] and [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome"] This content is protected [/ame] pancratium, an event showcased at the Roman [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colosseum"] This content is protected [/ame]. Even as late as the [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Middle_Ages"] This content is protected [/ame], statues were put up in Rome and other cities to honour remarkable pankratiasts of Rome. No-holds-barred reportedly took place in the late 1880s when wrestlers representing a huge range of fighting styles, including various [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch_wrestling"] This content is protected [/ame] styles, This content is protected and many others met in tournaments and music-hall challenge matches throughout [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe"] This content is protected [/ame]. In the [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA"] This content is protected [/ame] the first major encounter between a [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing"] This content is protected [/ame] and a wrestler in modern times took place in 1887 when This content is protected , then heavyweight world boxing champion, entered the ring with his trainer, Greco-Roman wrestling champion [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Muldoon"] This content is protected [/ame], and was slammed to the mat in two minutes. The next publicized encounter occurred in the late 1890s when future heavyweight boxing champion [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Fitzsimmons"] This content is protected [/ame] took on European Greco-Roman wrestling champion [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Roeber"] This content is protected [/ame]. Reportedly, Roeber suffered a fractured cheekbone in this bout, but was able to get Fitzsimmons down on the mat, where he applied an [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armlock"] This content is protected [/ame] and made the boxer This content is protected . In Europe, around the 19th century, the [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy"] This content is protected [/ame] [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Raicevich"] This content is protected [/ame], skilled in Greco-Roman wrestling was defeated by Akitaro Ono, a [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan"] This content is protected [/ame] heavyweight fighter skilled in [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jujutsu"] This content is protected [/ame], [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judo"] This content is protected [/ame], and [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumo"] This content is protected [/ame], throwing him on the mat by one-arm shoulder throw. In 1936, heavyweight boxing contender [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingfish_Levinsky"] This content is protected [/ame] and veteran professional wrestler This content is protected competed in a mixed match, which Steele won in 35 seconds. This content is protected Another early example of mixed martial arts combat was the martial art of [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartitsu"] This content is protected [/ame], founded in London in 1899, which was the first martial art known to have combined Asian and European fighting styles, This content is protected and which saw MMA-style contests throughout England, pitting European and Japanese champions against representatives of various European wrestling styles. This content is protected Mixed style contests such as [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing"] This content is protected [/ame] vs. [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jujutsu"] This content is protected [/ame] were popular entertainment throughout Europe, Japan and the Pacific Rim during the early 1900s. This content is protected In Japan these contests were known as merikan, from the Japanese slang for "American [fighting]". Merikan contests were fought under a variety of rules including points decision, best of three throws or knockdowns, and victory via knockout or submission. This content is protected After the popularity of professional wrestling waned after [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I"] This content is protected [/ame] it split into two genres: " This content is protected ", in which the fighters actually competed, and " This content is protected ," which evolved into modern [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_wrestling"] This content is protected [/ame]. This content is protected In the late 1960s to early 1970s the concept of combining the elements of multiple martial arts was popularized in America by [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Lee"] This content is protected [/ame] via his system and philosophy of [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeet_Kune_Do"] This content is protected [/ame]. Lee believed that "the best fighter is not a Boxer, Karate or Judo man. The best fighter is someone who can adapt to any style."[[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Attribution"] This content is protected [/ame]] In 2004 UFC President [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dana_White"] This content is protected [/ame] would call Lee the "father of mixed martial arts." This content is protected [ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed_martial_arts[/ame] Guess James Toney is also working against history...should be interesting! (And no, for the apologists who will come in to defend boxing, I'm not saying it's ineffective. In fact, I think it's one of the more effective disciplines, but it effectiveness is limited to x situations.)
