UFC creator Art Davie inducted to 2018 Hall of Fame

Las Vegas, April 29: The UFC announced earlier in the week that promotion creator and co-founder Art Davie has been named to the Hall of Fame class for 2018 as a Contributor.

New Yorker Davie joins an elite list who will be inducted into the 2018 UFC Hall of Fame which takes place on Thursday, July 5, at The Pearl at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.

UFC President Dana White was full of praise for the foundation laid by Davie for the promotion.

"Art's contributions to UFC helped lay the foundation for the sport that fans around the world see today," White said. "It's an honor to induct Art into the UFC Hall of Fame class of 2018 and we look forward to celebrating his career at our ceremony in July."

"Being inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame is the greatest honor that can be bestowed to anyone involved with the sport of mixed martial arts," Davie said.

"Watching UFC become mainstream and break all these records over the years has been like watching my child go out and conquer the world. I'm so proud of what UFC has become and I'm thrilled my part in its creation is being celebrated during its 25th anniversary."

Davie began with a tournament named "World's Best Fighter" and later worked tirelessly to turn his concept into reality after he came across a Playboy Magazine article featuring legendary Brazilian jiu-jitsu master Rorian Gracie.

Davie convinced Rorian to partner with him on a project he named "War of the Worlds" a tournament which would attempt to solve the age-old question of which fighting style is superior. Semaphore Entertainment Group (SEG), a New York-based PPV producer agreed to televise the event.

"War of the Worlds" was rebranded to the Ultimate Fighting Championship and the now iconic Octagon was chosen as the center for competition, with the first eight-man tournament taking place at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado, on November 12, 1993.

Davie began recruiting fighters from various martial arts disciplines such as boxing, karate, kickboxing and sumo, while Gracie enlisted his brother Royce to represent his family's submission style. Gracie, undersized in comparison to his competitors, upended conventional thinking by utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu and taking down and submitting all three opponents in less than five minutes combined.

The event, branded UFC 1: The Beginning, was a huge success by industry standards, tripling SEG's projections with more than 88,000 buys and forever changing the combat sports landscape.

Davie and Gracie sold their stakes in UFC to SEG in May of 1995. Davie would stay onboard as a member of UFC's executive team as an advisor and the organization's first-ever matchmaker until UFC Japan: Ultimate Japan in December of 1997.

After leaving UFC in January of 1998, Davie continued working in the entertainment industry as a television producer until he was named Head of United States Operations for K-1 Kickboxing.

During his tenure with UFC, Davie was responsible for many firsts and innovations, such as instituting the Ultimate Fighting Alliance to govern the rules and regulations of the new sport, developing the original rulebook and format of UFC, hiring on-air talent, and recruiting fighters who are currently inducted into the Hall of Fame Pioneers Wing.