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When people tune into pay-per-view or Fox to watch the UFC, the majority of the viewers have no idea had the UFC actually came about. At one point, only a select group of people know the struggles that a man from the advertising universe went through to not only launch the first UFC event, but light the spark that turned MMA into the worldwide spectacle it is now.
That is why the book “Is This Legal? The Inside Story Of The First UFC From The Man Who Created It†is a must read for both hardcore and casual MMA fans. Author and UFC creator Art Davie delves in painstaking detail about having a concept for a competition to see which fighting style is the best to the creation of MMA as a whole. The amazing cast of characters that you will meet through Art Davie's book includes (but not limited to) SEG President Bob Meyrowitz, The Gracie Family, Kathy Kidd, John McCarthy, Elain McCarthy, Campbell McClaren and many more folks who were intrical to the early success of the UFC.
One of the better reasons for reading this book other than the creation of the UFC is to learn about the family dynamics of The Gracie's. Throughout the majority of the book, the family dynamic of Helio, Royce, Rorian, Rickson and many other Gracie's is an interesting subplot that is explored with as much detail as the creation of the UFC.
Art Davie's idea for the World's Best Fighter, what the event was called prior to the Ultimate Fighting Championships, was initially laughed at and easily dismissed by the combat sports community. However, it was the persistence and the never ending belief in his dream that would eventually see Art Davie create the world biggest MMA promotion.
The stories surrounding all ten (8 tournament fighters & 2 alternates) and how they became part of the UFC is another great feature of this book. The part where Art Davie and Rorian Gracie have a fighters meeting to discuss the rules for the event and the fighters reaction to them will show how close the event was to going down before it even got started.
Besides dealing with the fighters and just putting the event together, Art Davie also goes into great detail about the negotiations between himself and pay-per-view production company SEG. Most people do not even realize that if it was not for a last second contract negotiation in the hotel hours before the UFC was set to go live, the event would not have been seen live on pay-per-view, which as Art Davie put it, “would have been disastrous for the UFC.â€
The people who tune into the UFC now have most likely believed that Dana White and The Fertita Brother created the UFC, but now with this book out, Art Davie and the cast of crazy characters who really created the UFC will finally get their just due.
For more on the book and to purchase the book, visit IsThisLegalTheBook.com and/or AscendBooks.com
I would like to thank Jay Tan and the folks at Ascend Books for the opportunity to both get the book and have an opportunity to review it.
Follow me on Twitter @DaveTeesMMA
Contact me at bigteesps3@yahoo.com
