The Top 10 Stories of the Past 10 Years

1. Nevada (2001)

Zuffa’s purchase of the UFC in January 2001 removed one of the biggest obstacles to the sport’s survival: Bob Meyrowitz.

The former owner, who had spent years and millions bailing water from the franchise, was out of money and patience. He exited just as MMA had received crucial sanctioning in New Jersey, which had adopted a form of the Unified Rules in a major-league concession to the sport’s safety record. Zuffa would go on to put on good shows, awful shows, great shows, a reality show and an endless stream of strategic moves that put the company on steady ground.

None of it would’ve been possible without Nevada’s consent on July 23, 2001, to sanction mixed martial arts, a unanimous vote that ended eight years of social and political rejection. Other commissions who had previously reacted with disgust had little recourse: Nevada, the most respected athletic body in the world, had set the standard.

It’s possible that with the support of both iNDemand -- the pay-per-view provider who reinstated the UFC after a years-long blackout the month prior to the approval -- and New Jersey, the UFC could have found its way without Nevada. But without the financial support, status and profits of working in the major strip hotels and casinos, it would’ve been difficult. (Meyrowitz, after all, couldn’t survive without the state.) To find a bigger jolt to the fight industry, you’d have to go back to Farnsworth and the invention of television. It was that important.

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