Due to lack of opportunities for his own students to compete, William Varner promoted the very first King of the Ring on February 16, 2001, in a ballroom at the Surfside Oceanfront Inn in Virginia Beach. The event was a huge success among local fighters and MMA fighting fans. With some fighters coming from as far away as Costa Rica to participate, KOTR has grown steadily, beginning to fill the basketball arena at a local university with a capacity of 8,000 spectators. Every KOTR event averages fifteen bouts in a regulation size boxing ring.

Mixed Martial Arts has existed in some form or another for centuries. It was called “no-holds-barred” in America, and was usually done outside the law without any form of governing or sanctioning body overseeing those events. The first sanctioned event, UFC #1, happened in November of 1993. Royce Gracie was the first UFC champion, son of the legendary Helio Gracie. Many people credit the Gracie family for bringing MMA to America. The Gracies integrated practical fighting skills into their martial art, and eliminated those areas they considered useless in a “real” fight. The result is the devastating ground fighting method called Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.

As the sport expanded in the United States, fighters became more skilled and sophisticated, and the winning methods used to be successful in a fight employed a combination of stand up and grappling fighting skills . In many countries, such as Brazil and Japan, the sport is extremely popular, selling out venues with 30,000 or more seats.

It is interesting to note that while the uneducated critics dismiss the sport as bloody and brutal, closer examination shows this notion to be untrue. Traditionally, fighters in the martial arts are very respectful towards one another, and rarely inflict unnecessary damage on their opponent in a match. Also, the rules in MMA bouts today are enforced by a referee, affiliated with a licensed sanctioning organization, in a safe environment - the boxing ring. MMA events have an outstanding safety record, especially when compared to other contact sports like boxing, football, and ice hockey, just to name a few. The best that we can do as MMA fighting fans is continue to support this fast-growing sport.

King of the Ring also features Muay Thai Kickboxing, a sport that utilizes primarily stand up fighting skills as boxing, kicking, elbow and knee strikes, clinch fighting, as well as, upper body throws. K-1, a professional kickboxing show that KOTR models its rules after, has achieved much success in this arena of fighting, from sold out stadiums, to having more pay-per-view shows recently than it had previously for 10 years.

It is the goal of King of the Ring Productions to be able to offer both amateur and professional Muay Thai and MMA matches in the near future. We are seeking business sponsors, who are fans of these popular sports, and who would also be interested in financially supporting King of the Ring and the fighters. who participate. There are a number of levels of sponsorship available, from web advertising, in promotions prior to each event, or during each King of the Ring show, as well as sponsoring professional fighters for future events.