Why did early UFC events match fighters from different combat styles?

The earliest aim of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was to determine the effectiveness of different combat disciplines by pitting practitioners of distinct styles against one another—such as a wrestler against a boxer, or a kickboxer against a judoka.12

By matching fighters from diverse backgrounds, the organization sought to showcase how various martial arts techniques performed in a real-world, "no-holds-barred" environment with minimal rules. This approach was heavily influenced by the "Gracie Challenge," a tradition in which the Gracie family invited challengers to test their Brazilian jujitsu against other fighting styles. Over time, the sport evolved from these experimental style-versus-style matchups into a highly regulated discipline, eventually adopting the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts to ensure athlete safety and professional standards.12