Overview
On November 12, 1993, a new sport was unleashed on an unsuspecting viewing public—one that was unlike any other, and a phenomenon that would come to redefine combat sports for a new generation. The sport was mixed martial arts (MMA)—and the event was the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The creation of ad man and entrepreneur Art Davie… the UFC entered nearly 90,000 US households that night through pay-per-view television with an explosion as Dutch karate champion Gerard Gordeau kicked Sumo wrestler Teila Tuli in the face during the first minute of the opening fight. This shocking scene was only a prelude of what was to come that winter night in Denver, and worldwide over the next 25 years. IS THIS LEGAL? is the true story of how the UFC and the sport of MMA came into existence—told by the man who started it all: Art Davie.
In this vivid and fast-moving, first-person account, Davie tells the story of his creation, which has become a four-billion-dollar company. Davie’s tale is about perseverance and against-all-odds determination, as he worked for four years to see his idea come to fruition, meeting resistance at every single turn.
It is also a mash-up of martial arts, celebrity and business culture, involving a highly improbable cast of characters, ranging from Academy Award nominee John Milius, NFL Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown, action star Chuck Norris, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Godfather Rorion Gracie and pay-per-view pioneer Bob Meyrowitz.
Davie’s story of how he created the Ultimate Fighting Championship and the new sport mixed martial arts it spawned, is one for fight fans and admirers of mavericks in business and life. Whether you are a fan of MMA, or have never watched a bout in your life, you will be fascinated by Davie’s story of triumph over disaster. This became the sport of the 21st Century, which arrived with virtually no fanfare or warning. Davie started a revolution, and the revolution was televised.
Here is what has been said about IS THIS LEGAL?:
John Milius, Academy Award Nominated Screenwriter & Director of Conan the Barbarian
“This is the real inside story of how the UFC came together. Would make a great movie.”
Randy Couture, Hall-of-Fame MMA Champion & Film Star
“An honest, shocking, enthralling and nostalgic look back at the creation of the modern age of mixed martial arts in the United States. This is all the real stuff that no one gets to see or hear about when the newest combative sport of MMA was forged and Art Davie was one of its founding fathers! Thanks goes out to Art for persevering and giving all professional martial artists a place to ply our wares and test our skills.”
Kevin Kay, President, SPIKE-TV
“I thought I knew just about everything there was to know on the birth of MMA in this country. What I found out in “Is This Legal?” is that I knew barely anything… Art and Sean have masterfully crafted a fascinating and compelling must-read for anyone who prides themselves on being a combat sports fan.”
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Caution: IS THIS LEGAL? is a work of non-fiction about the creation of a contact sport. It does contain some explicit language. Recommended for mature young adults.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940155236740 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Art Davie |
| Publication date: | 04/29/2018 |
| Sold by: | Smashwords |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 423 KB |
About the Author
ART DAVIE Davie comes to the entertainment business from the advertising agency world. He was an account executive and copywriter in California ad agencies for many years, specializing in package goods and politics. Spectacle and creativity was always a theme in Davie’s work. For example: a campaign for the Honda Dealer Associations featured a giant zucchini, lemon, and tomato on wheels, and was featured in the May 3-9, 1980 issue of TV Guide (“Nice - But do you have something in a ’77 Eggplant?”). Davie even performed stunts in TV commercials (for his own San Diego car dealership –Toyack Motors) where he jumped from a 10-story building onto an airbag, was set on fire, shot with a .357 magnum, catapulted over a car and suspended from a helicopter. But that was before he had an epiphany in 1993 and created the television tournament that pitted boxers, wrestlers, and martial artists against each other. This became The Ultimate Fighting Championship®, the franchise that exploded on Pay-Per-View TV and became a multi-billion dollar business. In addition to being the UFC’s creator, Davie produced, wrote rule the initial books, booked and matched fighters as well as serving as the UFC Commissioner. In 1998, Art brought K-1: The New Fighting Sport from Fuji TV in Japan to American television with a show at the Mirage Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Creating new TV shows brought him to Mandalay Sports Entertainment in 2003 where he developed pilots, including King of the Streets, a drag-racing reality show; Fight Quest, a mixed-martial arts reality show; and MAGIC (Making a Great Inner City), with Earvin “Magic” Johnson. In 2008 Art developed a new combat sports, XARM®, a combination of arm wrestling, kick boxing and martial arts with Seattle based Piranha Productions; and formed XARM Inc. He secured a partnership with Endemol USA for an XARM iPhone/Android game; and 495 Productions for an XARM based reality show. In 2014, with co-author Sean Wheelock, Davie wrote Is This Legal? The inside story of the First UFC from the man who created it. This was published as a print book by Ascend Books in 2014 9thru March 2018). Davie attended New York Military Academy (where Donald Trump was his roommate), St. John’s University, and Pace College in New York City. As a Marine Corp Sergeant, Art had a Top Secret clearance and served as a computer operator at the Communications Center for the Commandant of the Marine Corps Center in the Pentagon. Davie was later awarded the Navy Achievement Medal with combat “V” for his service in the Republic of Vietnam in 1969/1970. After military service, Art worked with youth gangs in New York City as a member of the Youth Services Agency - Crisis Task Force. In 2018, Davie was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
Sean Wheelock is one of the best-known and most experienced television commentators in MMA, having commentated for numerous major promotions globally, including Pride, Bellator, Affliction, One Championship, Victory, and M1. His commitment to MMA and combat sports extends far beyond his media work, as Wheelock is the National Chairman of the ABC’s MMA Rules and Regulations Committee, and serves as a governor-appointed Board Member of the Kansas Athletic Commission. He began working as a professional boxing referee is 1995. Active in combat sports since childhood, Wheelock currently trains in a wide variety fighting disciplines, with his favorite being no-gi submission grappling. A native Kansan, Wheelock lives in the Kansas City suburb of Shawnee, Kansas with his wife Kelly, originally of England, and their young daughters Ellee and Hadlee—