Reconciling a company's origin story: The UFC

How easily company history slips through the cracks

In a recent Joe Rogan Podcast with guest John McCarthy, the two talk about the history of the UFC and its origins. The UFC officially turned 25 years old this year, placing its founding in 1993. What stood out in this podcast was Joe Rogan, a UFC commentator since 1997, still did not fully understand how the UFC was formed and who was behind it. He knew bits and pieces about how it was formed, but much of it was scattered and had missing information.

The beautiful part of this podcast is long-time UFC referee John McCarthy’s implicit knowledge of exactly how the UFC started and who was involved. It was amazing to watch Joe Rogan’s captivated expression, as he was learning the real story of the UFC for the first time. It showed us two things; how storytelling has the power to captivate, and also how easy it is for employees to create a different narrative in their mind if one isn’t clearly documented.

Because the UFC turned 25 this year, and is arguably on the brink of one of its biggest fights ever, UFC 229 McGregor vs. Nurmagomedov, we decided to create a visual timeline in the Enwoven platform using part of John McCarthy’s recollection of the early days and beyond.

Image via USA Today Sports/Jason Silva