The entity of the New UFC [Ultimate Fighting Championship] is the world’s leading mixed martial arts sports association, formed in January, 2001 by Zuffa, LLC. The New UFC features a strong ownership and a depth of management experience across a spectrum of live event sports, television production and ancillary business development. The New UFC is positioned well for the future as the standard bearer for the evolving and exciting sport of mixed martial arts.

Mixed martial arts (MMA) is an intense and evolving combat sport in which competitors use interdisciplinary forms of fighting that include jiu-jitsu, judo, karate, boxing, kickboxing, wrestling and others to their strategic and tactical advantage in a supervised match. Scoring for mixed martial arts events in Nevada, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Florida is based on athletic-commission approved definitions and rules for striking (blows with the hands, feet, knees or elbows) and grappling (submission, choke holds, throws or takedowns). No single discipline reigns.

Ultimate Fighting is a proprietary term of the UFC. It is defined as mixed martial arts competition between high level professional fighters who utilize the disciplines of jiu-jitsu, karate, boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, and other forms in UFC live events. UFC competitors or “Ultimate Fighters” are among the best-trained and conditioned athletes in the world. While this is a highly intense sport, fighter safety is of paramount concern to UFC ownership and management: it is noteworthy that no competitor has ever been seriously injured in a UFC event.

The new Ultimate Fighting Championship is a series of international competitive mixed martial arts events televised several times yearly and available live or tape-delayed on pay-per-view and other formats, seen domestically and internationally. The New Ultimate Fighting Championship is committed to providing the highest quality live event and television production available to entertain and engage viewers in a fascinating sport. The New Ultimate Fighting Championship distinguishes itself from the controversial spectacle of the last decade: The first event produced under new ownership and management was February 23, 2001.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is produced exclusively in cooperation with Zuffa, LLC.

The elite level of the competitor also known as an “Ultimate Fighter.”

The UFC brings together the most talented martial arts experts in the world. UFC fighters come from the US, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Russia, Holland, England, etc. All UFC fighters have previous combat sports experience and many are world or Olympic champions. UFC athletes train up to six hours a day or more in preparation for an event. Almost all have studied martial arts as a lifelong vocation and many are college educated. In addition to their UFC careers, many of these men are business owners. They are also students, professionals or managers working for diverse types of companies. But it is the success, discipline and focus of the Ultimate Fighter that makes him different from just about any other competitor in or out of mixed martial arts.

Absolute consistency of rules: presence of officials, judges, weight divisions, rounds, time limits
Leadership in obtaining commission approval for a new sport

Competitors may only use UFC and commission approved 4-6 oz gloves, designed to protect the hand but not large enough to improve the striking surface or weight of the punch.

Commission approved MMA shorts and kickboxing trunks are the only uniforms allowed. Shirts, gis and shoes, and the problems they present for grabbing are not allowed.

The octagonal competition mat and cage design are registered trademarks and/or trade dress of Zuffa, LLC and are symbolic of the highest quality mixed martial arts events brought to you under the Ultimate Fighting Championship® brand name. In 1993, UFC events were the first to feature an eight-sided competition configuration which has become known worldwide as the UFC Octagon™

The UFC Octagon is unique from any other fighting arena because the octagonal shape and structure have become inherently associated with Zuffa and the UFC brand name among mixed martial arts consumers, other mixed martial arts organizations and the national media. The UFC Octagon is regularly featured on UFC Pay-per-view events, Ultimate Fight Night™ and The Ultimate Fighter® reality TV series. The UFC Octagon creates a neutral arena to showcase the skills of UFC mixed martial arts athletes. The UFC organization has a established a reputation for providing the maximum safety to the fighters with commission approved ring structures, canvas, and all safety padding and fences. Zuffa makes major investments to ensure the safety of competitors in the UFC Octagon -- as a result, when people see the Octagon they associate it with the reputation and quality delivered only by Zuffa at UFC events.

Commission approved gloves
Weight classes
Time limits and rounds
Mandatory drug testing
No head butting or kicking to the downed opponent
No knees to the head of a downed opponent
No downward point of the elbow strikes
No strikes to the spine or the back of the head
No groin or throat strikes
State Athletic Commission approval in such major states as New Jersey, Nevada, Florida & Louisiana.

Every round in UFC competition is 5 minutes in duration. Title matches have five rounds, and non-title matches have three rounds. There is a one minute rest period in-between rounds.

• Lightweight: (146 - 155 lb)
• Welterweight: (156 - 170 lb)
• Middleweight: (171 - 185 lb)
• Light Heavyweight: (186 - 205 lb)
• Heavyweight: (206 - 265 lb)

In addition, there are four other weight classes specified in the Unified Rules which the UFC does not use: Flyweight (125 lb and under), Bantamweight (126-135 lb), Featherweight (136-145 lb), and Super Heavyweight (265 lb and above).

The UFC uses its trademarked octagonal caged arena to stage bouts.

All competitors must fight in approved shorts, without shoes or any other sort of foot padding. Shirts, gis or long pants (including gi pants) are not allowed. Fighters must use approved light gloves that allow fingers to grab. These gloves enable fighters to use tremendous punching power without the consequence of an injured or broken hand.

Matches usually end via:

• Submission: a fighter taps on the mat or his opponent three times (or more) or verbally submits.
• Knockout: a fighter falls from a legal blow and is either unconscious or unable to immediately continue.
• Technical Knockout: stoppage of the fight by the referee if it's determined a fighter cannot "intelligently defend" himself or by ringside doctor due to injury.
• Judges' Decision: Depending on scoring, a match may end as:
  
  
  • unanimous decision (all three judges score a win for one fighter),
  • split decision (two judges score a win for one fighter with the third for the other),
  • majority decision (two judges score a win for one fighter with one for a draw),
  • unanimous draw (all three judges score a draw),
  • majority draw (two judges score a draw).
  • split draw (the total points for each fighter is equal)

The ten-point must system is in effect for all UFC fights; three judges score each round and the winner of each receives ten points, the loser nine points or less. In New Jersey, the fewest points a fighter can receive is 7, however in other states by custom no fighter receives less than 8. There is no such thing as a 10-10 round in the ten point must system. The loser "must" receive a 9 or less.

1. Butting with the head.
2. Eye gouging of any kind.
3. Biting.
4. Hair pulling.
5. Fish hooking.
6. Groin attacks of any kind.
7. Putting a finger into any orifice or into any cut or laceration on an opponent.
8. Small joint manipulation.
9. Striking to the spine or the back of the head.
10. Striking downward using the point of the elbow.
11. Throat strikes of any kind, including, without limitation, grabbing the trachea.
12. Clawing, pinching or twisting the flesh.
13. Grabbing the clavicle.
14. Kicking the head of a grounded opponent.
15. Kneeing the head of a grounded opponent.
16. Stomping a grounded opponent.
17. Kicking to the kidney with the heel.
18. Spiking an opponent to the canvas on his head or neck.
19. Throwing an opponent out of the ring or fenced area.
20. Holding the shorts or gloves of an opponent.
21. Spitting at an opponent.
22. Engaging in an unsportsmanlike conduct that causes an injury to an opponent.
23. Holding the ropes or the fence.
24. Using abusive language in the ring or fenced area.
25. Attacking an opponent on or during the break.
26. Attacking an opponent who is under the care of the referee.
27. Attacking an opponent after the bell has sounded the end of the period of unarmed combat.
28. Flagrantly disregarding the instructions of the referee.
29. Timidity, including, without limitation, avoiding contact with an opponent, intentionally or consistently dropping the mouthpiece or faking an injury.
30. Interference by the corner.
31. Throwing in the towel during competition.

When a foul is charged, the referee in their discretion may deduct one or more points as a penalty. If a foul incapacitates a fighter, then the match may end in a disqualification if the foul was intentional, or a no contest if unintentional. If a foul causes a fighter to be unable to continue later in the bout, it ends with a technical decision win to the injured fighter if the injured fighter is ahead on points, otherwise it is a technical draw.

The referee has the right to stop the fighters and stand them up if they reach a stalemate on the ground (where neither are in a dominant position nor work toward one) after a verbal warning. This rule is codified in Nevada as the stand-up rule.
If the referee pauses the match, the match is resumed with the fighters in the position they were before.
Any grabbing of the cage will result in a verbal warning, followed by an attempt by the referee to release the grab by pulling on the grabbing hand. If that attempt fails or if the fighter continues to hold the cage, the referee may charge a foul.

Bouts that occur on The Ultimate Fighter are technically classified as "exhibition matches" under NSAC sanctioning, and thus do not count toward the professional record of a fighter. Match outcomes also do not need to be posted publicly, which allows for fight results to be unveiled as the series progresses.

Special rules were introduced for the third series. Preliminary bouts for The Ultimate Fighter has two rounds instead of the normal three. If there is a draw after two rounds, an extra sudden victory five-minute round is contested. If the extra round goes the distance, the judges' decision will be based on the extra round only. Semi-final matches use three rounds as per standard bouts. During the finales for each series, the division finals will have the standard three rounds plus a fourth sudden victory round if the judges score a tie.