UFC events available to watch on ESPN Replay now
UFC 129: St-Pierre v Shields, available until 1pm, 29 May
Upcoming live UFC events on ESPN
UFC 130: Edgar v Maynard, live 2am, 29 May, ESPN and On Demand from 3pm, 29 May, ESPN Replay
UFC 131: Lesnar v Dos Santos, live 3am, 12 ESPN and On Demand from 3pm, 12 June, ESPN Replay
Classic UFC programmes available On Demand on ESPN Replay
UFC Best Of British: Episode 1
UFC Best Of British: Episode 2
UFC Fight Of The Night: Episode 1
UFC Fight Of The Night: Episode 2
UFC Fight Of The Night: Episode 3
UFC Fight Of The Night: Episode 4
UFC Fight Of The Night: Episode 5
UFC Best Fight Ever: Garcia v Korean Zombie
UFC is one of the fastest-growing sports around. It’s relentless, brutal and compelling, and you can follow all the action exclusively live and On Demand on ESPN and ESPN Replay.
The world’s biggest mixed martial arts competition features some of the most fearsome warriors in sport. Superstars like heavyweight Cain Velasquez, middleweight champion Anderson Silva and welterweight title holder Georges St-Pierre aren’t the sort of characters you’d want to have a heated argument with – in fact, they’d probably each win a tussle with an angry rhino.
And while this isn’t particularly good news for those likely to engage in fist-to-fist combat with the muscle-bound hardmen, it does make for some engaging, if slightly bloody, battles inside the cage.
But if you don’t know your octagons from your hexagons, here’s a quick guide to bring you up to speed.
The rules
UFC sees brawlers from the world of boxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, wrestling, kickboxing and various other martial arts battling it out inside an octagonal cage for three brutal rounds (or five if it’s a title match) of five minutes each. A match can end if:
A fighter has their opponent in a hold of such intensity, the pain forces them to submit.
A fighter is knocked out unconscious by a legal blow.
The bout is stopped by the referee, the ringside doctor or a fighter’s own corner.
The match goes to a judges’ decision.
While any form of fighting is allowed in a UFC bout, certain forms of attack aren’t permitted, including head-butting, eye-gouging, biting, hair-pulling and fish-hooking (yanking your opponent from inside their mouth).
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