The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The UFC was founded by businessman Art Davie and Brazilian martial artist Rorion Gracie, and the first event was held on November 12, 1993 at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado.  The purpose of the early Ultimate Fighting Championship competitions was to identify the most effective martial art in a contest with minimal rules and no weight classes between competitors of different fighting disciplines. In subsequent events, more rigorous rules were created and fighters began adopting effective techniques from more than one discipline.