Ultimate Fighting is a relatively new sport that has captured the attention of many men and some women as well. Formed in 1993, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has become more popular in recent years, thanks in large to pay-per-view. The organization underwent changes in 2001 with new ownership and restructuring that has made it one of America’s most entertaining sports with 13 to 14 annual pay-per-view events.

UFC consists of mixed martial arts (MMA), which combines multiple forms of fighting including ju-jitsu, judo, karate, boxing, kickboxing, and wrestling. Such a sport can seem like a free-for-all, but there are specific rules. Scoring in some states is based on what is approved for most fighting sports. These include blows with hands, feet, knees or elbows, and grappling, such as submission, choke holds, throws or takedowns. The fouls are mostly common sense and/or attacks most real fighting men wouldn’t pull. These are butting with the head, eye gouging, biting, hair pulling, fish hooking, groin attacks, small joint manipulation, striking the spine or back of the head, striking downward using the point of an elbow, throat strikes, clawing or pinching the flesh, kicking an opponent when grounded, just to name a few.

An fighter can win based on by an opponent tapping out either verbally or physically, a technical knock out, decision based on score cards (unanimous, split, or majority), and by a technical decision or draw. A win can also be because disqualification of an opponent, a forfeit, or no contest.

The sport is rough, to say the least. Even if there are rules, UFC is the closest to “anything goes” as fighting gets.

This is a busy month for UFC. On November 15, three-time UFC Heavyweight champion Randy Couture will take on Brock Lesnar, a six foot three and 265 pound rookie whose specialty is wrestling. Couture has more experience under his belt, and hopefully experience will make up for the 45 pound advantage that Lesnar has. The match will begin at 7 p.m. and can be watched live via pay-per-view, of course.

Also fighting that night will be Kenny Florian and Joe Stevenson in the lightweight division. Stevenson has won 34 out of 42 matches, and Florian is fairly new with only 15 matches under his belt. But Florian has won 12 out of those 15, so a win isn’t completely impossible.

For the heavyweight division, Gabriel Gonzaga and Josh Hendricks will be a nice showdown. Both are relatively the same in height, weight, and even record. This one could be a draw.