From Spectacle to Sport

In 648 BCE, the ancient Greeks introduced the sport of Pankration to the Olympic Games. Translated, Pankration means "all powers" - a seemingly accurate title for a sport that combined the ancient Greek forms of boxing and wrestling. With "no biting" and "no eye gouging" as its only rules, the sport of Pankration quickly became the most popular Olympic event due to its overwhelming brutality. Competitors won by either knocking their opponent unconscious or by forcing them to shamefully submit through painful joint locks or deadly strangulations. Pankration fighters quickly become renowned for their fierce and bone-crushing fighting techniques. These spectacular fighters were the world's first mixed martial artists that combined both grappling and striking methods into one dangerously efficient fighting form.