title: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

text: Although motion capture was used in the previous film to depict "Velociraptor", ILM determined after several tests the technology would not be adequate for depicting dinosaurs in "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom". They chose instead to use key frame animation done for the previous films. However, some motion capture was done as a form of previsualization to aid Bayona. ILM used key framing to create scenes involving a large number of dinosaurs and referred to high-speed photography of horses racing for aid in creating such scenes. The fight scene between Blue and the "Indoraptor", set in Maisie's bedroom, was designed in London and key framed by ILM. Jance Rubinchik, animation supervisor for ILM, said the fight was the "trickiest sequence" because of the lack of previsualization.


title: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

text: According to Bayona, a "Brachiosaurus" shown dying in the volcanic eruption is meant to be the same individual that is first seen in the original "Jurassic Park". The "Brachiosaurus" in the new film was created using the same animations from the 1993 film. The dinosaur's death was the last shot on the entire film to be finished; Bayona and the post-production team struggled to perfect the CGI of the scene with only several days left to complete it. They worked through the final night to perfect the scene's colors and composition, shortly before the film's release.


title: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

text: For advice on veterinary procedures and animatronic movements, the filmmakers sought a veterinary surgeon who had experience with African wildlife. Jonathan Cranston, a Gloucestershire veterinary surgeon, was recommended for the position because of his experience with wildlife in South Africa. He advised Bayona and the producers on how to choreograph several scenes to accurately depict complex veterinarian procedures that involved the dinosaurs. Cranston also worked closely with Pratt, Howard, Pineda and Smith to teach them how to perform such procedures. He also advised the puppeteers on creating subtle and authentic animal movements and worked with Bayona on two scenes. Cranston was on set for 12 days, primarily at Pinewood Studios.


title: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

text: The musical score was composed by Michael Giacchino, who also composed the previous film. John Williams' themes from earlier "Jurassic Park" scores were incorporated by Giacchino. A soundtrack album was released on June 15, 2018, by Back Lot Music.


title: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

text: A six-second clip from the film was released on November 22, 2017. The first trailer was teased for release on November 30, but was later confirmed to be incorrect. Several teaser trailers and a behind-the-scenes featurette of the film were released in early December, before the release of a full-length trailer on December 7.


title: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

text: That month, Universal launched a website for the Dinosaur Protection Group. It included miscellaneous information about the group and its effort to save the island's dinosaurs, as well as a video featuring Howard, Pineda and Smith as their characters. The website also explained that Isla Sorna, the second island of dinosaurs featured in earlier films, is no longer inhabited. The website was created by Chaos Theorem, a creative digital storytelling company created by Jack Anthony Ewins and Timothy Glover, who worked previously on the Masrani Global website for "Jurassic World" along with their team Manuel Bejarano, Samuel Phillips, Ross Lane & Jaroslav Kosmina. Trevorrow and Chaos Theorem also created a website and campaign for "Extinction Now!" (the antithesis to the Dinosaur Protection Group), which was launched shortly before the film's release. The campaign included a found-footage clip of a "Tyrannosaurus" loose in San Diego, a reference to "".


title: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

text: A second trailer aired during Super Bowl LII on February 4, 2018. A 30-second teaser trailer was later released on April 13, followed by the full trailer on April 18. Several of the trailers and commercials for the film included scenes from the ending that depict the "Tyrannosaurus rex" and the "Mosasaurus" now loose in the world. This frustrated Trevorrow, who preferred not to show such scenes before the film's release.


title: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

text: Universal spent $145 million on prints and advertisements promoting the film and had the benefit of a global marketing campaign by its partners valued at an additional $185 million, more than double the value of the previous film's partner program. The campaign included nine partners—Dairy Queen, Doritos, Dr Pepper, Ferrero SpA, Jeep, Juicy Fruit, Kellogg's, M&M's, and Skittles—who aired television commercials and sold products to promote the film. The global marketing campaign consisted of 1.3 billion promotional items, including 100 million boxes of Kellogg's products and 15 million packages of Kinder Joy candy by Ferrero. Dairy Queen, a returning partner from the previous film, sold "Jurassic Chomp" ice cream desserts in collectable cups, while Doritos and Dr Pepper marketed versions of their products that featured images of the film's dinosaurs. For Super Bowl LII, Trevorrow directed a Jeep commercial starring Goldblum featuring a "T. rex". Within 24 hours of its release, the commercial received 39.7 million online views, more than any film trailer watched online following its Super Bowl television debut. Universal also teamed up with Amazon for a marketing stunt where a dinosaur-sized box was driven around Los Angeles on a truck to promote the film.


title: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

text: Licensing partners Mattel, Lego, and Funko created toys based on the film. Mattel produced a variety of toys, including dinosaurs and action figures, as well as Barbie dolls featuring the likeness of Pratt and Howard as their characters. Mattel released a mobile app titled "Jurassic World Facts" as a tie-in to its dinosaur toys, which included symbols that could be scanned to collect facts about each creature. Lego released a number of Lego sets and characters based on the film. A video game, "Jurassic World Evolution", was released simultaneously with the film. A two-part virtual reality miniseries titled "Jurassic World: Blue", created by Felix & Paul Studios and Industrial Light and Magic, was released for Oculus VR headsets as a film tie-in, featuring Blue on Isla Nublar at the time of the volcanic eruption.


title: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

text: "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" had its premiere at the WiZink Center in Madrid, Spain, on May 21, 2018. The film's international theatrical release began in Singapore and Malaysia on June 7, followed by the United Kingdom, India, Italy, South Korea and Angola on June 8. It was released in the United States on June 22, 2018.


title: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

text: "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" was released digitally on September 4, 2018, and on Blu-ray, DVD, Blu-ray 3D and 4K Blu-ray on September 18.


title: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

text: "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" grossed $417.7 million in the United States and Canada and $892.7 million in other territories for a total worldwide gross of $1.310 billion, against a production budget of $170 million.


title: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

text: The film crossed the $1 billion mark on July 5, 2018, becoming the 35th film of all time to reach this milestone, and the seventh film for Universal. It also made Universal the second studio (after Disney) to have at least two films in three different franchises make $1 billion worldwide, alongside "Fast & Furious" and "Despicable Me". "Deadline Hollywood" calculated the net profit of the film to be $222.8 million when factoring together all expenses and revenues, making it the eighth most profitable release of 2018.


title: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

text: In December 2017, a survey from Fandango indicated that "Fallen Kingdom" was one of the most anticipated films of 2018. Initial projections three weeks before its release had the film grossing $130–150 million in its opening weekend in the United States and Canada, with "BoxOffice" magazine estimating a total of $325–380 million for its final domestic gross. By the week of its release, the low-end projections had reached $135 million. It was released on June 22, 2018, in 4,475 theaters (the second-widest release ever behind "Despicable Me 3"), grossing $58.7 million on its opening day, the second-highest of the franchise and 28th-best on record. The film grossed $15.3 million from Thursday night previews at 3,600 theaters, down from the $18.5 million grossed by "Jurassic World". It ended up debuting at $148 million, the 20th-best opening weekend of all time and second-highest for Universal. It also marked the second time two films opened to over $100 million on back-to-back weekends, following "Incredibles 2"s $182.7 million debut the week before, since May 2007 when "Shrek the Third" and "" opened to $121.6 million and $114.7 million, respectively. The film was particularly popular among families, leading to an opening weekend that exceeded expectations. In its second weekend, the film made $60.9 million, a drop of 59% and less than the $105.8 million made by "Jurassic World" in its sophomore weekend. In its third weekend, it made $28.6 million.


title: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

text: Overseas, the film was released in 48 countries between June 6 and June 8, including France, Germany, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Italy, Russia, and Spain. It was projected to gross $130–145 million on its opening weekend. It made $20.2 million on its first day, including $1.4 million in France and $1 million in Indonesia. In South Korea, it grossed $9.7 million (₩10.3 billion) and sold over 1 million tickets, setting opening day records for both (beating "The Mummy"'s ₩7.4 billion and ""s 980,000). It went on to have an international debut of $151.1 million, including $8 million from IMAX screenings. Its largest opening markets were South Korea ($27.2 million), the UK ($19.9 million), France ($10 million), Spain ($9.5 million), and Germany ($9.1 million). In China, the film was released on June 15 and made $34.4 million (¥220 million) on its opening day, nearly double the first day total of its predecessor ($17.5 million). The film went on to open to $111.9 million (¥715 million), the fourth-best-ever in the country for a Hollywood release (behind "The Fate of the Furious", "Avengers: Infinity War", and ""), and bringing its two-week international total to $372.1 million, more than the entire lifetime gross of "Jurassic Park III" ($368 million). In its third week of international release, the film made $106.7 million, bringing its total to $561.5 million. China remained one of the top markets, with $32.4 million (a standard 71% drop for Hollywood films in the country), while it was also released in Mexico ($12.3 million), Brazil ($9.2 million), and Australia ($7.9 million). As of July 5, 2018, the film has grossed $245.5 million in China, making it the fifth-highest-grossing Hollywood film of all time in the country.


title: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

text: Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 51 out of 100 based on 59 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it an 82% overall positive score. "The Hollywood Reporter" found that some critics praised the film's visuals and its break from recent franchise installments with its darker tone, but noted criticism from others regarding the screenplay, "undeveloped concepts", and the feeling that the film franchise had run its course.


title: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

text: "Variety"'s Owen Gleiberman called the film better than the first "Jurassic World" but wrote "... ["Fallen Kingdom"] ends up being just a so-so ride. I hope the next one is an all-out ride—but that for the first time since Spielberg's 1993 original, it's actually a great one. The audience for this series has proved that it will turn out in mega-droves". Lindsey Bahr of the Associated Press wrote: ""Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" will not stand up to rigorous scrutiny, and yet, it's kind of an enjoyable, preposterous and thrilling ride that ticks through nostalgia beats like a shopping list". "The Boston Globe"s Ty Burr likened the film to a "Universal Studios theme park ride" noting: "It's enough for a fun fright night at the movies but lacks anything else: character, mystery, wonder, . The film's a rush for an audience that only wants the high".


title: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

text: In a more critical assessment, Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" said "...this sequel has the perfunctory vibe that comes from filmmakers who cynically believe the public will buy anything "T. rex"-related, no matter how shoddy the goods or warmed-over the plot". Senior Editor Matt Goldberg of Collider also criticized the screenplay stating that "the film is too lazy to even bother with the modest housekeeping of explaining its characters' motives". "The Verge"s Bryan Bishop was equally critical: "Like its predecessor, "Fallen Kingdom" is overstuffed with ethical conundrums, and not sophisticated enough to fully engage with them ... the movie's villains become such cartoony caricatures that it's impossible to take "Fallen Kingdom"s attempted philosophical musings seriously". Sam Machkovech of "Ars Technica" called the film a B movie consisting of "a sixth-grade sketchbook mash of dino-murder, cartoonish villains, and plot holes", while Travis M. Andrews of "The Washington Post" said the film makes dinosaurs boring.


title: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

text: In a positive review, Scott Mendelson of "Forbes" wrote, ""Fallen Kingdom" is a gorgeous, mostly enjoyable blockbuster that looked great in IMAX. That it doesn't cash all the checks it tries to write is why it's merely a good movie instead of a great one". Writing for "The Hollywood Reporter", John DeFore also praised the film: "Finally making good on its name, J.A. Bayona's "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" says goodbye to the park for good, not just carrying the dinos off the island but freeing itself from the genre trappings of the previous four films". In a review for "Empire", Ben Travis lauded the film giving it four out of five stars saying, "despite some familiar echoes of "The Lost World", "Fallen Kingdom" also takes big, ballsy, irreversible strides, deriving tantalising logical conclusions from Michael Crichton's original premise and setting up a brave new "World" for this trilogy's final chapter". Sam Prell of GamesRadar+ compared the film to "", stating that both represent turning points for their respective franchises: "Both movies tear down the old to give us something new". IGN's Carlos Morales considered the film a Gothic fable rather than science fiction, noting a shift in tone from the previous films.


title: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

text: Many reviewers singled out the scene where a lone "Brachiosaurus", stranded on Isla Nublar, succumbs to the volcanic fumes while the characters helplessly watch from the departing ship as "poignant" or "haunting", especially given the species' role in the first film.


title: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

text: The sequel, "Jurassic World Dominion", began filming in February 2020, with Trevorrow returning as director and co-writer. Emily Carmichael is credited as co-screenwriter, with the script based on a story by Trevorrow and Connolly. Trevorrow also serves as executive producer with Steven Spielberg, while Marshall and Crowley served as producers. Pratt, Howard, Johnson, Sy, Pineda and Smith reprise their roles from the previous two films, while original "Jurassic Park" stars Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Sam Neill also return to the franchise. Like "Fallen Kingdom", filming took place at Pinewood Studios. "Jurassic World Dominion" was released on June 10, 2022.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: Ghost, also formerly known as Ghost B.C. in the United States, is a Swedish rock band that was formed in Linköping in 2006. In 2010, they released a three-track demo followed by a 7-inch vinyl titled "Elizabeth", and later their debut full-length album "Opus Eponymous". The song "Ritual" was chosen by "Kerrang!" as one of "The 50 Most Evil Songs Ever." The Grammis-nominated album was widely praised and significantly increased their popularity. Their second album and major label debut, "Infestissumam", was released in 2013, debuted at number one in Sweden, and won the Grammis Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Album. The band released their third studio album, "Meliora", in 2015, reaching number one in Sweden, and number eight in the US. Its lead single, "Cirice", earned them the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance. The band released their fourth studio album, "Prequelle", in 2018. The band released their fifth studio album, "Impera", in 2022.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: Ghost is known for its eccentric on-stage presence. Seven of the group's eight members, known as "Nameless Ghouls", wear virtually identical, face-concealing costumes. Prior to a 2017 lawsuit filed by former members of the band, lead singer Tobias Forge obscured his identity behind a succession of characters bearing the title of "Papa Emeritus". Portrayed by Forge in a prosthetic mask and makeup, the persona has been described as a "demonic anti-pope", and has undergone five incarnations: I, II, III, Nihil, and IV. For the band's 2018 album "Prequelle" and subsequent world concert tour A Pale Tour Named Death, Forge played a character known as "Cardinal Copia", who is described as being unrelated to the prior Papa Emeritus characters. Copia's costume consists of either cardinal vestments or a black or white tuxedo; he also sports a prosthetic mask with black eye makeup and multi-colored eyes, features which are present in each Papa character. In March 2020, at the final show of A Pale Tour Named Death, Copia was promoted to the title of "Papa Emeritus IV", a persona which Forge has continued to use for the album "Impera" and its associated concert tour, Imperatour.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: Ghost was formed in 2006, when future band leader Tobias Forge wrote the song "Stand By Him". He said, "I said that this is probably the most heavy metal riff that has ever existed ... When the chorus came to me, it haunted my dreams. Every time I picked up the guitar, I ended up playing that progression, and when I fit the words in, it seemed to cry out for a Satanically-oriented lyric." Forge then contacted his former Repugnant bandmate Gustaf Lindström to record the song.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: In early 2008, the two entered the studio to record three songs: "Stand by Him," "Prime Mover" and "Death Knell". Afterwards Forge remarked to Lindström: "This definitely does not sound like two dudes that look like you and I". Thus Forge decided that they should be an anonymous "theater band", and use their love of horror films and "the traditions of Scandinavian metal" in the band's imagery. While other members of the band would wear black hooded robes and be called "Nameless Ghouls", Forge would go by "Papa Emeritus", dressed in Papal regalia and his face painted to resemble a skull. Forge then chose the name Ghost for the group. Initially Forge had no aspirations on becoming the band's vocalist, instead wanting to play guitar. He offered the position of lead vocalist to Messiah Marcolin, Mats Levén, Christer Göransson and JB Christoffersson, all of whom passed. As a result, Forge became the band's lead singer by default. On 12 March 2010, Forge posted the first three Ghost songs on MySpace and within two days was contacted by records labels and managers wanting to work with the group.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: Ghost spent a few weeks in a basement studio in the band's hometown of Linköping recording their debut album. In June 2010, the band released their first single "Elizabeth". Ghost released their first studio album, "Opus Eponymous", on 18 October 2010, on the independent record label Rise Above Records. The album reached number 50 on the Sverigetopplistan and was well received by critics, being nominated for the 2011 Grammis Award for "Best Hard Rock" album. Ghost played their first concert on 23 October 2010 at the Hammer of Doom festival in Würzburg, Germany.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: Ghost supported gothic metal band Paradise Lost on their "Draconian Times MMXI" tour in April 2011. On 29 May, Ghost made their United States debut at the Maryland Deathfest. The band performed at Download Festival in Leicestershire, England on 11 June. Following their performance, Phil Anselmo, lead singer of the band Down, performed wearing a Ghost T-shirt and invited three members of the band to join him on the main stage, where they performed Down's "Bury Me In Smoke" together. In December 2011, Ghost took part in the "Defenders of the Faith III" tour with Trivium, In Flames, Rise to Remain and Insense. The band then embarked on their first US tour, "13 Dates of Doom," beginning in New York on 18 January 2012, and ending on 2 February in Los Angeles. Afterwards Ghost joined Mastodon and Opeth as the opening act on the Heritage Hunter Tour throughout North America during April and May 2012. In June, Ghost received the award for "Breakthrough Band" at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: In February 2012, a Nameless Ghoul revealed that the band had completed writing their second album. Ghost entered the studio in October to record their second album in Nashville, Tennessee, with producer Nick Raskulinecz. The band had planned to record the album at the turn of 2012, but after starting their US tour in January, they were offered another tour immediately after. At the same time the band, their management and Rise Above Records all agreed that the group's next album should be released on a different label. Thus Ghost signed with Loma Vista Recordings in partnership with Republic Recordsa division of Universal Music Group.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: On 15 December 2012, Ghost played a show in Linköping, where they debuted a new song titled "Secular Haze", which was released online earlier that day, as well as their cover of ABBA's "I'm a Marionette". During the same show, the band introduced Papa Emeritus II as the successor to the first Papa Emeritus. On 20 December, the band announced that their second album, "Infestissumam", would be released in early 2013. On 5 February 2013, the band announced a name change to "Ghost B.C." in the US for legal reasons. A Nameless Ghoul said: "B.C. is obviously a pun on 'Before Christ', but it's just an amendment. In our world, we're just gonna be called Ghost ... The B.C. is silent, and as soon as we can, it's gonna be taken away forever." They officially dropped the amendment from their name in 2015. From 23 February to 4 March 2013, Ghost toured Australia as a part of the Soundwave Festival.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: "Infestissumam" was originally scheduled to be released on 9 April 2013, in the US, but the band could not find a US company that would manufacture the CD. Four US CD manufacturers rejected the job because the artwork for the deluxe edition of the album was described as "basically a 16th century illustration of an orgy." Rather than delay the album further, the band decided to use the artwork from the regular edition for the US pressings of the deluxe edition and announced the new release date of 16 April. All European copies and the US vinyl versions include the controversial artwork. "Infestissumam" charted in seven countries, including at number one in Sweden, eventually going gold. The album was also well received by critics, winning the Grammis Award and the P3 Guld Award for "Best Hard Rock/Metal Album" of 2013.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: Ghost began their "Haze Over North America" tour on 14 April 2013, at the Coachella Festival, which continued until 18 May. On 27 July, Ghost began the "Still Hazing over North America Tour", which ended in Chicago at the Lollapalooza festival. Immediately after, Ghost toured South America supporting Iron Maiden and Slayer, which included a performance at Rock in Rio. In October 2013, Ghost opened for Avenged Sevenfold and Deftones on their US tour. In November, the band toured the UK with Alice in Chains, before a tour of Europe. On 20 November 2013, Ghost released the EP "If You Have Ghost", consisting almost entirely of cover songs. It was produced by Dave Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighters fame.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: In January 2014, Ghost received six nominations at the Loudwire Music Awards. From 17 January to 2 February 2014, the band toured Australia as a part of the Big Day Out festival. They then embarked on the "Tour Year Zero", which lasted from 17 April until 17 May 2014, in North America. In July, the band performed at the European Sonisphere Festival.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: Ghost's third studio album, the follow up to "Infestissumam", "Meliora" was released on 21 August 2015. In an advertisement for the album that aired 28 May on VH1 Classic, it was announced that Papa Emeritus II was "fired" and that his successor Papa Emeritus III is his younger brother by a full three months. The song "Cirice" was released as a free download from the band's official site on 31 May, and won the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance. Papa Emeritus III was officially unveiled with a debut performance in Linköping on 3 June 2015, where the band also performed new songs from the upcoming album.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: The album was first promoted in August by a five date acoustic tour named "Unholy/Unplugged" of record shops in the US. Here Papa Emeritus III sported slicked-back jet black hair without his trademark mitre, and performed alongside the two guitarist Nameless Ghouls; accompanying them on the kazoo. A tour of the US titled "Black to the Future" began on 22 September and ran until 1 November. This was quickly followed by a European tour of the same name that ran until 21 December, including a full UK tour and two other tours in North America that took place in the spring and mid-summer of 2016.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: On 12 September 2016, the band released a new track on a radio show titled "Square Hammer" and a new EP, "Popestar", was released on 16 September, the same day the Popestar Tour began. Following the conclusion of the North American tour that concluded on 12 November, was the European tour of the same name which started in late March and finished in late April 2017. They were the opening act for Iron Maiden on their 2017 North America tour from June to July 2017. A Nameless Ghoul stated that after the tour was over, they would be writing and recording the new album which they stated would be much darker than "Meliora", with Tobias confirming in a recent interview that the fourth album would be released in 2018.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: In early 2017, Tobias Forge was sued by former Ghost members Simon Söderberg, Mauro Rubino, Martin Hjertstedt, and Henrik Palm as part of a royalties dispute. The four, who left Ghost in 2016, filed the suit in the district court of Linköping, Sweden and accused Forge, who was in charge of the band's business affairs, of withholding financial information and payments to the other members. The former members also claimed that "Our vocalist and former friend is now attempting to, in an underhanded and shameless way, transform Ghost from a band into a solo project with hired musicians." Forge claimed that "no legal partnership" ever existed between the other members and himself; they were paid a fixed salary to perform and execute the band's image as he instructed as "musicians for hire." He also stated that he refers to Ghost as a solo project, "Even though I've never wanted it that way, but at the end of the day, that is what it is. I mean, I started it in 2006, and no one that was ever in the band in 2016 was even on the first record. Call it solo, if you want to, but I call it a project."


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: On 24 August 2017, the band released their final music video from "Meliora" for their song "He Is". It premiered at Saint Vitus Bar in New York City the day before. During the final show of the Popestar Tour on 30 September 2017, Papa Emeritus III was dragged off stage at the end of the performance. A new incarnation called "Papa Emeritus Zero" was introduced on stage, later named "Papa Nihil". The band released their first live album titled "Ceremony and Devotion" digitally on 8 December 2017, with a physical release following on 19 January 2018.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: On 13 April 2018, Ghost released a new single, titled "Rats", along with an accompanying music video. This marked the first release from the band, with their "new" frontman Cardinal Copia. Additionally, the band welcomed a new character, saxophonist Papa Nihil, extending Ghost into a septet. The album was titled "Prequelle", and it was released on 1 June 2018. A second song, “Dance Macabre” was released ahead of the album on 17 May, and was later released as the album's second single.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: To promote the album, Ghost began the Rats! on the Road tour in the US which ran from 5 May until 1 June. The band was an opening act for Guns N' Roses in Oslo, Norway on 19 July 2018.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: Ghost began A Pale Tour Named Death in London, England at Royal Albert Hall on 9 September 2018. A North American tour of the same name began later in the fall that year featuring two headlining arena shows in Los Angeles and New York City. An early 2019 European tour of the same name was announced on 10 September 2018. In March 2019, the band performed in Australia and Japan as part of Download Festival. Ghost was later announced as the opening act for Metallica's WorldWired Tour from May to August 2019. A second North American tour was announced on 1 April 2019, with Nothing More as support. A European tour at the end of 2019 with All Them Witches and Tribulation was announced on 8 July 2019.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: The band released their second music video for the song "Dance Macabre" on 17 October 2018. A third music video, "Faith" was released on 20 December 2018 following the band's first North American leg of their tour.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: Ghost announced their standalone single "Kiss the Go-Goat / Mary on a Cross" which was released on 13 September 2019 under the title "Seven Inches of Satanic Panic". A video for "Kiss the Go-Goat' was released at midnight on September 12 as "Chapter 8" of their ongoing web series.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: In an interview on 25 September 2019, Ghost confirmed that other than one show in Mexico City on 3 March 2020, there would be zero touring next year. The year would be spent working on a new studio album which is expected to be released at the beginning of 2021. At the final show of the tour in support of "Prequelle", the band introduced the new frontman for the next album cycle, Papa Emeritus IV to which Tobias Forge had stated would be the next frontman.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: On 8 October 2020, Ghost had confirmed that they would be releasing their fifth studio album in winter 2020. There was a tour planned for March 2021, but it had been postponed to the fall of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the same day, the band was given the Music Export Prize of 2019 by the government of Sweden. On 21 October 2020, Ghost later announced that they would be entering the recording studio in January to begin recording the album for a late 2021 release. Ghost announced on their Facebook page on 30 December 2020, that 'several big things' were being worked on for 2021, indicating new music and live performances.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: Papa Emeritus IV made his public debut on the Swedish television game show "På spåret" on 22 January 2021, joining alongside The Hellacopters to perform a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil". Ghost later released a music video for "Life Eternal" on 3 March 2021, which featured live footage from the previous show in Mexico City the year before. Ghost became a featured artist on Metallica's tribute album "The Metallica Blacklist" which was released on 10 September 2021, in which they perform "Enter Sandman". On 30 September 2021, the band unveiled their single, "Hunter's Moon", which is featured on the soundtrack of the 2021 slasher film "Halloween Kills".


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: In an interview on 30 October 2021, Forge announced that the concept of the album would be based on "the rise and fall of empires". On 20 January 2022, the band released the first single of the studio album "Call Me Little Sunshine" and at the same time, announced the title of their fifth studio album, "Impera", which was released on 11 March 2022. On 2 March 2022, the band released the second single from the album, "Twenties". On 8 March, the band announced its sponsorship of the JD Motorsports No. 4 Chevrolet Camaro SS driven by Bayley Currey at the 12 March NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Phoenix Raceway. Ghost would later make an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to perform "Call Me Little Sunshine" which had previously been postponed due to touring commitments. On 27 July 2022, the band released a music video for the album's fourth single, "Spillways".


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: Ghost kicked off on the Imperatour in the US from January to March 2022, co-headlining with Volbeat and Twin Temple. Ghost later announced a European tour of the same name on 23 November 2021, with Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats and Twin Temple joining as support. Ghost was featured as a headliner for Hellfest in Clisson, France on 18 June 2022. On 17 May 2022, the band announced the second North American leg with Mastodon and Spiritbox as opening acts. During an interview on 12 September 2022, Forge confirmed that that there will be more touring in 2023.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: Ghost's music has been categorized in many genres, critics have classified them as hard rock, heavy metal, doom metal, pop rock, progressive rock, psychedelic rock, occult rock, and . Adrien Begrand of "PopMatters" stated that Ghost recalls "the early sounds of Black Sabbath, Pentagram, and Judas Priest, as well as the progressive and psychedelic rock of the late '60s." Speaking to Noisey.com, a Nameless Ghoul described Ghost as a black metal band in the traditional sense, but said that they probably do not fit into the norms of the current black metal scene. This Nameless Ghoul described Ghost's music as a mix between pop music and death metal.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: In an interview, a Nameless Ghoul said they are influenced by "everything ranging from classic rock to the extreme underground metal bands of the '80s to film scores to the grandeur of emotional harmonic music." A member of the band said the Swedish and Scandinavian black metal movement of the early '90s plays a major role in their act, and said that each member has come from a metal background. However, the band has stated several times that they do not aim to be a metal band. For their second album, Ghost chose a more diverse songwriting style; a member said, "we tried to deliberately have every song have its own signature."


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: Only a few members actually write songs. The writers compose an acoustic outline of songs before other instrumentation is added so it sounds like a group, rather than being dominated by guitar. In 2017, Forge claimed that he was the main author of every song except "Year Zero" and "Zenith", which were Persner's ideas. Asked how he keeps Ghost's sound intact despite large lineup changes, Forge said he has to teach them to play like he does; explaining that while he is a good guitar player, he is only an "okay" drummer, bassist and keyboardist. So it is a matter of getting them to "underperform [laughs] together."


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: Their lyrics are often Satanic in nature; one Ghoul said, "the first album is about the forthcoming arrival of the Devil, spoken very much in biblical terms, much like the church will say that doomsday is near. ["Infestissumam"] is about the presence of the Devil and the presence of the Antichrist." However, the band has said several times their image is all tongue-in-cheek, citing that "We have no militant agenda. We are an entertainment group." "Infestissumam" also deals with "how people relate to a deity or God, themes like submission and superstition, the horrors of being religious." Additionally, a Nameless Ghoul said the second album is about "how mankindpredominantly menwhat they have deemed to be the presence of the Devil, throughout history and even nowadays. And that’s why the record is so fueled with sexual themes and females ... the Inquisition was basically men accusing women of being the Devil just because they had a hard-on for them." The group's theatrics are influenced by Kiss, David Bowie and Alice Cooper, but a member said they are more influenced by Pink Floyd. A Ghoul later cited Death SS as an influence on their "gimmick" but not their music.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: Ghost's Satanic theme has proven problematic for the group, especially in the US. While recording "Infestissumam" in Nashville, Tennessee, they were unable to find choral singers who would sing their lyrics, forcing them to record the parts in Hollywood. The group was unable to find a record manufacturer in the US to press the album because it featured artwork showing nudity, which resulted in a delay to the album's release. When one interviewer suggested that the band's music had become more "radio-friendly" and that they were being accepted into the US mainstream, a Nameless Ghoul replied that in the US their music was banned from major chain stores, most late-night television shows, and most commercial radio stations. He said, "So, yes, mainstream America is absolutely welcoming us with open legs." During an interview with Loudwire in October 2015, a band member stated that , the US had become more accepting of their music and imagery, further evidenced by their appearance as the main musical guests on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" on 30 October 2015, during a Halloween-themed episode. This was Ghost's first live television appearance in the US.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: Chicago heavy metal-themed restaurant Kuma's Corner added a hamburger called "The Ghost" to its menu in tribute to Ghost. Its recipe includes goat shoulder, red wine reduction, and a communion wafer. A local Catholic food blogger acknowledged that while the unconsecrated wafer is not the Eucharist, it is still symbolic, and that "it is a mockery of something that is holy". The restaurant's owner acknowledged the controversy and stated they respected religion while refusing to remove the burger, citing the First Amendment. To demonstrate his respect for opposing views, he also donated $1,500 to Catholic Charities of the Chicago Archdiocese.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: The members of Ghost mimic the Roman Catholic Church, but have reversed the image to worship Satan instead of the Holy Trinity. From 2010 to 2017, the band's instrumentalists, referred to as the "Nameless Ghouls", each represented one of the five elements, typically attached to their instrumental role; the lead guitarist was fire, the bassist was water, the keyboardist was wind, the drummer was earth, and the rhythm guitarist was ether, and wore their respective alchemical symbol on their instruments. With "Meliora" each Nameless Ghoul had all five elemental symbols embroidered on the right breast of their costumes, with the elemental symbol representing the individual Ghoul being highlighted to show the identity of the wearer. In 2018, the band's line-up was expanded to include a third guitarist, two female keyboardists referred to as the "Ghoulettes", and Papa Nihil on saxophone.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: The group's vocalist usually portrays the band's mascot character, a Satanic priest known as Papa Emeritus. There have been four different characters taking the name Papa Emeritus. They first welcomed the second Papa Emeritus on 12 December 2012, in Linköping. On 3 June 2015, the second Papa Emeritus welcomed his younger brother as the new Papa Emeritus in Linköping after being "fired" due to not performing his duty in overthrowing governments and churches. Papa Emeritus II and Papa Emeritus III were stated to only have a 3-month difference in age. On 30 September 2017 during a show in Gothenburg, Papa Emeritus III was dragged off stage by two men, who then escorted a new character, Papa Emeritus 0, to the stage to introduce the band's next chapter. Papa Emeritus 0 is portrayed as being significantly older than the previous Papas, making use of a walker and oxygen tank whilst walking on stage. On 19 January 2018, the band shared a video that features a character, implied to be Papa Emeritus IV, listening to "Ceremony and Devotion" on 8-track tape while critiquing Papa Emeritus III's vocal abilities. The character's face is hidden offscreen, but he is shown to wear red vestments similar to a cardinal priest. He was later revealed to be Cardinal Copia. At the final show of the tour in support of "Prequelle", Papa Nihil had collapsed and "died", and Cardinal Copia became Papa Emeritus IV. Papa Nihil was later resurrected during the European leg of the Imperatour. All versions of Papa Emeritus are actually the same vocalist, Tobias Forge.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: Peter Hällje, a former bandmate of former Ghost member Martin Persner, claimed he designed the Papa Emeritus character in 2005, prior to the formation of Ghost. Hällje never performed as Papa Emeritus and agreed with Persner to let him use the character for his then-new band. His claim was later confirmed by Forge.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: In April 2018, it was revealed that the "new leader" of Ghost would be Cardinal Copia, who made his live debut with the group at a private acoustic show on 6 April; he is not a part of the Papa Emeritus lineage. Instead, Forge described the situation as being like the Sith in "Star Wars"; "there is always two, master and apprentice... And if he does his job well then he may earn his face paint."


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: In promotion for their 2018 US tour, a video showed that Papa Emeritus one through three had been killed and their bodies embalmed. In an interview the following month, Forge stated that unlike Ghost's previous frontmen, Cardinal Copia is planned to be around for about five years. The band also welcomed Papa Nihil, the first band member besides Forge to receive a character name. Originally introduced as Papa Emeritus Zero, Nihil is the ancestor of all previous Papa Emeritus characters, and after the "deaths" of his descendants, was the only surviving member of the Papa Emeritus lineage that we know of. During the final show of the tour in support of "Prequelle", Cardinal Copia was "elevated" to become Papa Emeritus IV.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: Anonymity is a major characteristic of Ghost; prior to 2017, the members had not publicly revealed their names, and the group's five instrumentalists are only referred to as "Nameless Ghouls". During signings, the Nameless Ghouls sign the merchandise by stamping their individual alchemical symbol, while Papa Emeritus signs with his stage name or the letters "P.E." One Ghoul said the idea that the band's members remain anonymous to gain attention is a misconception, and that the idea was to remove their personalities to allow their audiences to focus upon the artwork itself. He also said, "Had not the music been rocking, I don’t think that people would have gone gaga just about our looks". In 2011, a Nameless Ghoul said, "We're often mistaken for roadies, which is helpful. We've almost been thrown out of venues we've played. Forgetting our backstage pass is a big problem." In early 2012, a member of the band said he enjoyed being an individual and that he could easily "step outside the bubble" when he wanted to. In May 2013, a Ghoul disclosed that they had started to reveal their membership in the group to their local friends and family "for house peace."


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: In an August 2013 interview with Jack Osbourne for Fuse News, a member of the band said that Dave Grohl has dressed up as a Nameless Ghoul and secretly performed with Ghost. In April 2014, a Nameless Ghoul revealed that the group has had several member changes through the years.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: The Swedish Performing Rights Society was rumored to have Tobias Forge, vocalist of Swedish bands Subvision and Repugnant and former guitarist for Crashdïet (using the alias Mary Goore in the latter two), credited with songs as "A Ghoul Writer". All of the band's songs are credited to "A Ghoul Writer", causing people to suspect that Forge was Papa Emeritus. The online database for US-based performance rights society ASCAP, when having the name Tobias Forge entered into its search box, revealed all of Ghost's original songs (even though many of the tracks use the pseudonym "A Ghoul Writer" in the database itself) At the time, Ghost stated they would not comment on any rumors of their identities. Following a lawsuit in 2017, Forge's identity as Papa Emeritus was revealed.


title: Ghost (Swedish band)

text: In March 2017, Swedish musician Martin Persner of the band Magna Carta Cartel claimed in a short video clip that he was the rhythm guitarist, also known as Omega, from 2009 to July 2016. This marked the first time that someone has publicly identified themselves as a member of Ghost. A few months before Persner's announcement, the band recruited a new bass player who was suspected to be Lez Zeppelin bassist Megan Thomas, later confirmed by Forge. A lawsuit against Forge in April 2017 on behalf of four past members revealed their names, as well as the names of several more past members. When asked about the complete lineup change at the end of 2016, Forge stated that Ghost "was always sort of... I guess a Bathory sort of band, where there was people playing live, and the people playing live [were] not necessarily the same that played on the records." The lawsuit was dismissed by the court on 17 October 2018.


title: One-Punch Man

text: A digital manga remake, illustrated by Yusuke Murata, began publication on Shueisha's "Tonari no Young Jump" website in June 2012. Its chapters are periodically compiled and published into individual "tankōbon" volumes. , 27 volumes have been released. In North America, Viz Media has licensed the remake manga for English language release and has serialized it in its "Weekly Shonen Jump" digital magazine.


title: One-Punch Man

text: An anime adaptation produced by Madhouse was broadcast in Japan from October to December 2015. A second season, produced by J.C.Staff, was broadcast from April to July 2019. A third season has been announced. Licensed in North America by Viz Media, it premiered in the United States on Adult Swim's Toonami programming block in July 2016. The second season premiered in October 2019.


title: One-Punch Man

text: As of June 2012, the original webcomic manga surpassed 7.9 million hits. As of April 2020, the manga remake had sold over 30 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling manga series.


title: One-Punch Man

text: On a supercontinent version of Earth that has four Moons, powerful monsters and villains wreak havoc. The millionaire Agoni creates the Hero Association, which employs superheroes to fight evil. Saitama, an unassociated hero, hails from City Z and performs heroic deeds as a hobby. For three years, he has trained enough to defeat any enemy with a single punch, his unmatched strength leaving him bored. He becomes a reluctant mentor to Genos, a cyborg seeking revenge against another cyborg who killed his family and destroyed his hometown, after Saitama defeats a monster that defeated Genos.


title: One-Punch Man

text: Saitama and Genos join the Hero Association, hoping to attain notability, but Genos instantly obtains an S-Class rank; meanwhile, due to scoring low on the written exam despite having a perfect score on the physical exam, Saitama only becomes a C-Class hero. His feats remain unnoticed even after saving people from an asteroid and then a sea monster, barely getting himself promoted to B-Class. Later, shortly before her death, the seer Shibabawa predicts that the world is in great danger as the alien Boros invades the planet. The heroes kill the invaders and destroy Boros's ship as Saitama defeats Boros in single combat.


title: One-Punch Man

text: Monsters begin appearing faster while the rogue martial artist Garo, a former apprentice of the hero Bang, and self-dubbed "Hero Hunter," begins terrorizing heroes. Due to childhood bullying, he holds a grudge against everything "heroic." The heroes learn that the monster influx comes from the Monster Association, an organization of monsters under City Z intent on destroying the Hero Association. They attack various cities, recruit fighters by offering them "monster cells" that mutate humans into monsters, and kidnap a Hero Association executive's son. Garo bonds with Tareo, a child who idolizes heroes, as he hunts down more heroes, his combat prowess slowly rising. The Monster Association attempts to recruit him and kidnaps the child when Garo refuses. He storms the Monster Association HQ trying to rescue the child but ultimately gets captured.


title: One-Punch Man

text: The Hero Association assaults the headquarters to rescue the two children, causing a battle that destroys City Z and kills almost every monster. Saitama meets the highest-ranked hero Blast during the raid when he arrives to collect artifacts, who warns him of a threat known as "God." Many heroes are heavily injured when Garo emerges, mutated into a monster from the fighting. Unable to match the power of Saitama, Garo receives some of "God's" power when he meets it in a vision, causing him to emit radiation that kills all the heroes, including Genos by ripping out his core to get Saitama to fight him seriously. He briefly matches Saitama in a brutal battle that sends them across the solar system. After Saitama defeats him, Garo becomes distraught over Tareo's death and teaches Saitama to time travel before "God" kills him. Saitama goes back in time and subdues Garo before he killed the heroes, destroying his monster mutation and cosmic power. Despite the objections of the other heroes, Saitama spares Garo and lets him flee after Tareo stops them. Only Genos, who reconnected with his core from the original timeline bought by Saitama (who seemed to remember nothing of his battle and time travel with the original Garo), remembers the entire events of the original ominous future caused by Garo.


title: One-Punch Man

text: With the Monster Association destroyed, Saitama gets promoted to A-Class for defeating Garo. As the battle destroyed his apartment, he relocates to the Hero Association's HQ in A-City. The Hero Association's poor performance causes public opinion of them to plummet. Several heroes and officials decide to retire or defect to the Neo Heroes, a rival group appearing to be more effective in handling the growing monster threats. Leading it is the hero Blue, who claims to be the son of the Blast.


title: One-Punch Man

text: ONE began the original webcomic of "One-Punch Man" in 2009. The Japanese shortened name "Wanpanman" is a play on the long-running children's character "Anpanman", "wanpan" being a contraction of "wanpanchi" ("one punch"). ONE became interested in creating a comic superhero who was already the strongest in the world. He wanted to focus on different aspects of storytelling than those normally relied on in standard superhero stories, such as everyday problems. ONE said: "Punching is oftentimes pretty useless against life's problems. But inside "One-Punch Man"s universe, I made Saitama a sort of guy who was capable of adapting his life to the world that surrounded him, only armed with his immense power. The only obstacles he faces are mundane things, like running short of money."


title: One-Punch Man

text: ONE has taken several breaks from updating the webcomic. In February 2010, he put the series on hiatus, deciding to take a one-year break due to family circumstances. After releasing the 109th chapter in January 2017, ONE took a two-year break, releasing the following chapter in April 2019.


title: One-Punch Man

text: When ONE returned to drawing in 2011, he was contacted by artist Yusuke Murata about a possible partnership in which Murata would redraw the webcomic for ONE. Murata had been an enormous fan of "One-Punch Man" and was ill at the time. Fearing he was going to die, he contacted ONE. Looking back, he said, "Around that time, I was actually really sick. I broke out in hives, my inner organs were infected, and I couldn't breathe well with my windpipes swelling. I was in the hospital when I thought, 'Ah, I guess people die just like that.' If I'm going to die, I want to do something I really love to do. I want to draw manga with Mr. ONE. That's what I thought." Murata, already a successful manga artist, used his connections in the industry to get a publishing deal with "Weekly Young Jump" comics. The manga became a digital publication on "Weekly Young Jump" spin-off manga website , published by Shueisha.


title: One-Punch Man

text: The webcomic version of "One-Punch Man" was created by ONE in 2009. He self-published the series on the Japanese manga website Nitosha.net. , the webcomic has 141 chapters.


title: One-Punch Man

text: The manga remake of "One-Punch Man" is illustrated by Yusuke Murata. It has been published on Shueisha's "Tonari no Young Jump" website since June 14, 2012. The chapters are periodically collected and published in "tankōbon" volumes. The first volume was published on December 12, 2012. A radio drama CD was bundled with the ninth volume released in August 2015. As of November 4, 2022, twenty-seven volumes have been published.


title: One-Punch Man

text: In North America, the series began publication in Viz Media's "Weekly Shonen Jump" ("Shonen Jump Alpha" at the time) on January 21, 2013. The first e-book was released in February 2014. In June 2014, "One-Punch Man" was one of a number of series that Viz made available on the digital distribution platform ComiXology. The manga has been released in print in North America since September 2015.


title: One-Punch Man

text: An anime adaptation was announced in the 15th issue of "Weekly Young Jump" on March 10, 2015. The first season was directed by Shingo Natsume at Madhouse animation studio and written by Tomohiro Suzuki. The series features character designs by Chikashi Kubota, who also served as chief animation director. The music was by Makoto Miyazaki, with art design by Shigemi Ikeda and Yukiko Maruyama. Ken Hashimoto served as the color key artist, Akane Fushihara served as the director of photography, Kashiko Kimura served as the series editor, and Shoji Hata did sound design. "One-Punch Man"s first season ran for 12 episodes. It aired in Japan from October 5 to December 21, 2015, on TV Tokyo. It aired later on Television Osaka (TVO), TVQ Kyushu Broadcasting (TVQ), Kyoto Broadcasting System (KBS), BS Japan, and AT-X. The season streamed on Niconico and was simulcast on Hulu, Daisuki, and Viz Media's Neon Alley service. A preview screening of the first two episodes was held at the Saitama City Cultural Center on September 6, 2015. The opening theme song is by JAM Project, and the closing theme is by Hiroko Moriguchi. An original video animation (OVA) was released with the tenth manga volume on December 4, 2015. Additional OVA episodes are included with Blu-ray Disc/DVD volumes of the season, the first of which was released on December 24, 2015.


title: One-Punch Man

text: The series is licensed by Viz Media in North America, Latin America, and Oceania. Viz Media announced they were working on an English-language dub of "One-Punch Man" at Anime Boston 2016. On July 1, 2016, it was announced during Toonami's Anime Expo panel that the series would begin airing on July 17, 2016. The series has been also licensed by Viz Media Europe in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Kaze UK and Manga Entertainment handle the distribution of the series in the United Kingdom. Madman Entertainment handles distribution in Australia and New Zealand, and also simulcast the series on AnimeLab.


title: One-Punch Man

text: A second season was confirmed in September 2016. On September 25, 2017, it was announced that "One-Punch Man" would be changing both its production company and director. The second season was animated by J.C.Staff, with Chikara Sakurai replacing Shingo Natsume as director and Yoshikazu Iwanami replacing Shoji Hata as sound director. Tomohiro Suzuki, Chikashi Kubota, and Makoto Miyazaki reprised their roles as series composer, character designer, and music composer, respectively. The opening theme song is by JAM Project, and the closing theme is by Makoto Furukawa. The second season aired from April 9 to July 2, 2019, and a television special aired on April 2, 2019. A ten-minute OVA was bundled with the second season's first Blu-ray Disc/DVD volume on October 25, 2019. Two more OVAs were bundled with the second season's second and third Blu-ray Disc/DVD volume on November 26 and December 25, 2019, respectively. Another OVA was bundled with the second season's fourth Blu-ray Disc/DVD volume on January 28, 2020. The fifth OVA was bundled with the second season's fifth Blu-ray Disc/DVD volume on February 27, 2020.


title: One-Punch Man

text: The second season was simulcast on Hulu in the US, on Tubi in Canada, on AnimeLab in Australia and New Zealand and on Crunchyroll in Europe. The second season premiered on Toonami on October 12, 2019.


title: One-Punch Man

text: On June 25, 2019, "" was announced for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. It was released in Japan on February 27, 2020, and in North America and Europe on February 28 of the same year.


title: One-Punch Man

text: On August 22, 2019, a mobile game titled "One Punch Man: Road to Hero" was released for iOS and Android.


title: One-Punch Man

text: On April 21, 2020, Sony's Columbia Pictures announced that a live-action film adaptation was in development. Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner are signed on as writers, while Avi Arad will produce. On June 13, 2022, Justin Lin was revealed to be the film’s director and co-producer, with the film set to enter production later in the year.


title: One-Punch Man

text: The webcomic was considered an instant success shortly after its inception, receiving thousands of views and comments within weeks. It received 7.9 million hits by June 2012. According to ONE, by the time he had written the fifth chapter, he was receiving 30 comments per update. (On Nitosha.net, a series was considered "popular" if it consistently received at least 30 comments.) The number of comments gradually increased, and by the time ONE had published the 30th chapter, he was receiving nearly 1000 comments per update.


title: One-Punch Man

text: "One-Punch Man" was one of the Manga Division's Jury Recommended Works at the 17th and 18th installments of Japan Media Arts Festival in 2013 and 2014, respectively. The series was one of ten nominated for the seventh annual Manga Taishō Awards in 2014. It was nominated for an Eisner Award in 2015, and a Harvey Award in 2016. The manga won the "Sugoi Japan Award", and the Spanish Manga Barcelona award for the seinen category in 2017.


title: One-Punch Man

text: "One-Punch Man" was the 9th best-selling manga of 2016, with over 3.9 million copies sold. It was the 8th best-selling manga of 2017, with over 3.2 million copies sold. The manga had 2.2 million copies in print in November 2013. As of July 2017, the manga had 13 million copies in print; by July 2019, this had grown to 20 million copies in print. As of April 2020, the series has sold over 30 million copies worldwide.


title: One-Punch Man

text: Once released in the United States, both the first and second volumes debuted on the "New York Times" Manga Best Sellers list, in first and second place respectively, and remained there for two weeks. Volume one dropped to second place for the third week, while volume two fell off the list altogether. In July 2019, the first volume of the series had been on the list for 71 weeks.


title: One-Punch Man

text: The first season of the anime received critical acclaim, receiving praise for its uniqueness, animation, humor, characters and fight scenes. It holds an approval rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 12 reviews, with the site's critics' consensus reading: "With its state-of-the-art animation, unorthodox hero, and gut-bustlingly funny jabs at the shounen genre, "One-Punch Man" is simply a knockout."


title: One-Punch Man

text: The second season received mixed reviews. Although the humor, characters, and story were still praised, reviewers unanimously criticized the drop in the quality of the animation following the change of studios. The direction, pacing, and fights were also criticized, as was the last episode for feeling like an improper season finale. "Screen Rant" noted that fan reaction to the season was divided, with their response to the new animation being notably negative. They criticized the drop of quality in animation as well as the change of director, saying ""One-Punch Man" was previously crisp, detailed and fluid, but many fans claim that the latest season has felt static, bland and uninspiring. This is almost certainly down to a change in director. [The series] has gone from the pinnacle of TV anime visuals to looking like just another weekly series." However, they believed the season "improves in terms of story, character and world-building", although they mostly attribute this to the original manga rather than the series' crew. They were very critical of the season finale, noting how the anime could have adapted one or two extra manga chapters to offer a more conclusive finale and build excitement toward a third season.


title: One-Punch Man

text: "IGN" gave season 2 a five out of ten rating, calling it "mediocre". Although they felt the humor and characters were on par with the first season, they were very critical of the animation and pacing, saying: "[the animation was] taking horrendous shortcuts to get the fights done and dusted in as simple a way as possible. Gone are the intricately detailed character action shots, with dynamic slow motion and constantly-shifting camerawork. Instead, we have flashes, cuts to black, and machine-gun punches all reminiscent of the drawn-out fight scenes of "Dragon Ball Z" from more than twenty years ago." They concluded saying: "Season 2 of "One-Punch Man" is a half-baked jumble of poor and lazy animation that is far more concerned with staying relevant than being crafted into something worthy of the season that came before it. If you're only in it for the advancement of the plot, it's all here. But it's also all in the manga, and that looks an awful lot better than this season."


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA promotion company in the world as of 2011. It produces events worldwide that showcase 12 weight divisions (eight men's and four women's) and abides by the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. , it had held over 600 events. Dana White has been its president since 2001. Under White's stewardship, it has grown into a global multi-billion-dollar enterprise.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: The UFC was founded by businessman Art Davie and Brazilian martial artist Rorion Gracie, and the first event was held in 1993 at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado. The purpose of the early Ultimate Fighting Championship competitions was to identify the most effective martial art in a contest with minimal rules and no weight classes between competitors of different fighting disciplines. In subsequent events, more rigorous rules were created and fighters began adopting effective techniques from more than one discipline, which indirectly helped create a separate style of fighting known as present-day mixed martial arts. In 2016, UFC's parent company, Zuffa, was sold to a group led by Endeavor, then known as William Morris Endeavor (WME–IMG), including Silver Lake Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and MSD Capital for US$4.025 billion. In 2021, Endeavor bought out Zuffa's other owners at a valuation of $1.7 billion.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: With a TV deal and expansion in Australia, Asia, Europe, and new markets within the United States, the UFC has achieved greater mainstream media coverage. It earned US$609 million in 2015, and its next domestic media rights agreement with ESPN was valued at $1.5 billion over a five-year term.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: Art Davie proposed to John Milius and Rorion Gracie an eight-man single-elimination tournament called "War of the Worlds". It was inspired by the "Gracies in Action" video-series produced by the Gracie family of Brazil which featured Gracie jiu-jitsu students defeating martial artists of various disciplines such as karate, kung fu, and kickboxing. The tournament would also feature martial artists from different disciplines facing each other in no-holds-barred combat to determine the best martial art, and would aim to replicate the excitement of the matches Davie saw on the videos. Milius, a film director/screenwriter and Gracie student, agreed to be the event's creative director. Davie drafted the business plan, and 28 investors contributed the initial capital to start WOW Promotions to develop the tournament into a television franchise.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: In 1993, WOW Promotions sought a television partner and approached pay-per-view producers TVKO (HBO) and SET (Showtime), and Campbell McLaren and David Isaacs at Semaphore Entertainment Group (SEG). Both TVKO and SET declined, but SEG—a pioneer in pay-per-view television that had produced such offbeat events as a tennis match between Jimmy Connors and Martina Navratilova—became WOW's partner in May 1993.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: SEG contacted video and film art director Jason Cusson to design a fighting arena for the event. Rorion and Davie didn't want a traditional roped ring, citing fears—by showing old Vale Tudo footage—that the fighters could escape through the ropes during grappling and use it as an advantage, or fall off and hurt themselves. SEG's executives agreed, and also wanted a way to visually differentiate their event from professional boxing and professional wrestling. Some ideas included a traditional roped-ring surrounded by netting, a moat with alligators, a raised platform surrounded by razor-wire fence, electrified fencing, men in togas and netting that could be lowered from the ceiling by a pulley. Eventually Cusson designed an arena with eight sides surrounded by chain-link fence, the trademarked Octagon, which became the event's signature setting. Cusson remained the group's production designer through "UFC 27". SEG devised the show's name as "The Ultimate Fighting Championship". UFC promoters initially pitched the event as a real-life fighting video game tournament similar to "Street Fighter" and "Mortal Kombat".


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: WOW Promotions and SEG produced the first event, later called "UFC 1", at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado on November 12, 1993. Art Davie was its booker and matchmaker. It proposed to find answers for sports fans' questions such as, "Can a wrestler beat a boxer?" As with most martial arts at the time, fighters typically had skills in just one discipline and little experience against opponents with differing skills. The television broadcast featured kickboxers Patrick Smith and Kevin Rosier, savate fighter Gerard Gordeau, karate expert Zane Frazier, shootfighter Ken Shamrock, sumo wrestler Teila Tuli, boxer Art Jimmerson, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Royce Gracie—younger brother of UFC co-founder Rorion, whom Rorion selected to represent his family. Royce's submission skills proved the most effective in the inaugural tournament, earning him the first ever UFC tournament championship after submitting Jimmerson, Shamrock, and Gordeau in succession. The show was extremely successful, with 86,592 pay-per-view television subscribers.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: It's disputed whether the promoters intended the event to be a precursor to future events. "That show was only supposed to be a one-off", eventual UFC president Dana White said. "It did so well on pay-per-view they decided to do another, and another. Never in a million years did these guys think they were creating a sport." Davie, in his 2014 book "Is This Legal?", an account of the creation of the first UFC event, disputes the perception that the UFC was seen by WOW Promotions and SEG as a one-off, since SEG offered a five-year joint development deal to WOW. He says, "Clearly, both Campbell and Meyrowitz shared my unwavering belief that War of the Worlds would be a continuing series of fighting tournaments—a franchise, rather than a one-night stand."


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: With no weight classes, fighters often faced significantly larger or taller opponents. Keith "The Giant Killer" Hackney faced Emmanuel Yarbrough at "UFC 3" with a 9-inch height and weight disadvantage.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: During this early phase of the organization, the UFC showcased a bevy of styles and fighters. Aside from the aforementioned Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, and Patrick Smith, they also featured competitors such as Hall of Famer Dan Severn, Marco Ruas, Gary Goodridge, Don Frye, Kimo Leopoldo, Oleg Taktarov, and Tank Abbott.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: In April 1995, following "UFC 5" in Charlotte, North Carolina, Davie and Gracie sold their interest in the franchise to SEG and disbanded WOW Promotions.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: Although UFC used the tagline "There are no rules" in the early 1990s, the UFC did in fact operate with limited rules. In a "UFC 4" qualifying match, competitors Jason Fairn and Guy Mezger agreed not to pull hair—as they both wore pony tails tied back for the match. The UFC had a reputation, especially in the early days, as an extremely violent event.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: "UFC 5" also introduced the first singles match, a rematch from the inaugural UFC featuring three-time champion Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock, called "The Superfight". "The Superfight" began as a non-tournament match that would determine the first reigning UFC Champion for tournament winners to face; it later evolved into a match that could feature either title matches or non-title matches. The "Superfight" would eventually completely phase out tournament matches.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: On the other hand, the first "Superfight" at "UFC 5" was also considered a failure. In the first minute of the fight Shamrock knocked Royce to the ground and landed inside his guard. For the next 30 minutes Shamrock was inside Royce's guard, with the two throwing punches and headbutts at each other but without any change or action, with the crowd booing the fighters. After 30 minutes the fight was stopped as it had exceeded the time limit allocated for the pay-per-view and was given another 5 minutes of extra time due to protests from the spectators. The fight was over after 36 minutes and a draw was declared. Because of this controversial fight, the UFC would later start to introduce time limits, judges to decide draws, and authorized referees to stand up fighters and restart the bout if they have too much inactivity.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: In 1996, the UFC had its first event outside continental United States with "UFC 8" in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, and in 1998, "UFC Brazil" was its first foreign event.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: In 1996, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) saw a tape of the first UFC events and immediately found it abhorrent. He led a campaign to ban the UFC, calling it "human cockfighting", and sent letters to the governors of all 50 US states asking them to ban it.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: 36 states enacted laws that banned "no-holds-barred" fighting, including New York, which enacted the ban on the eve of "UFC 12", forcing it to relocate to Dothan, Alabama. The UFC continued to air on DirecTV PPV, though its audience remained minuscule compared to the era's larger cable pay-per-view platforms.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: In response to the criticism, the UFC increased cooperation with state athletic commissions and modified its rules to remove the less palatable elements of fights while retaining the core elements of striking and grappling. "UFC 12" saw the introduction of weight classes and the banning of fish-hooking. For "UFC 14", gloves became mandatory, while kicks to the head of a downed opponent were banned. "UFC 15" saw limitations on hair pulling, and the banning of strikes to the back of the neck and head, headbutting, small-joint manipulations, and groin strikes. With five-minute rounds introduced at "UFC 21", the UFC gradually rebranded itself as a sport rather than a spectacle.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: Led by UFC commissioner Jeff Blatnick and referee John McCarthy, the UFC continued to work with state athletic commissions. Blatnick, McCarthy, and matchmaker Joe Silva created a manual of policies, procedures, codes of conduct, and rules to help in getting the UFC sanctioned by the athletic commissions, many of which exist to this day. Blatnick and McCarthy traveled around the country, educating regulators and changing perceptions about a sport that was thought to be bloodthirsty and inhumane. By April 2000, their movement had clearly made an impact. California was set to become the first state in the U.S. to sign off on a set of codified rules that governed MMA. Soon after, New Jersey adopted the language.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: As the UFC continued to work with the athletic commissions, events took place in smaller U.S. markets, and venues, such as the Lake Charles Civic Center. The markets included states that are largely rural and less known for holding professional sporting events, such as Iowa, Mississippi, Louisiana, Wyoming, and Alabama. SEG could not secure home-video releases for "UFC 23" through "UFC 29". With other mixed martial arts promotions working towards U.S. sanctioning, the International Fighting Championships (IFC) secured the first U.S. sanctioned mixed-martial-arts event, which occurred in New Jersey on September 30, 2000. Just two months later, the UFC held its first sanctioned event, "UFC 28", under the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board's "Unified Rules".


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: After the long battle to secure sanctioning, SEG stood on the brink of bankruptcy, when Station Casinos executives Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta and their business partner Dana White approached them in 2000, with an offer to purchase the UFC. A month later, in January 2001, the Fertittas bought the UFC for $2 million and created Zuffa, LLC as the parent entity controlling the UFC.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: "I had my attorneys tell me that I was crazy because I wasn't buying anything. I was paying $2 million and they were saying 'What are you getting? Lorenzo Fertitta revealed to "Fighters Only" magazine, recalling the lack of assets he acquired in the purchase. "And I said 'What you don't understand is I'm getting the most valuable thing that I could possibly have, which is those three letters: UFC. That is what's going to make this thing work. Everybody knows that brand, whether they like it or they don't like it, they react to it.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: With ties to the Nevada State Athletic Commission (Lorenzo Fertitta was a former member of the NSAC), Zuffa secured sanctioning in Nevada in 2001. Shortly thereafter, the UFC returned to pay-per-view cable television with UFC 33 featuring three championship bouts.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: The UFC slowly rose in popularity after the Zuffa purchase, due partly to greater advertising, corporate sponsorship, the return to cable pay-per-view, and subsequent home video and DVD releases.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: With larger live gates at casino venues like the Trump Taj Mahal and the MGM Grand Garden Arena, the UFC secured its first television deal with Fox Sports Net. "The Best Damn Sports Show Period" aired the first mixed martial arts match on American cable television in June 2002, as well as the main event showcasing Chuck Liddell vs. Vitor Belfort at "UFC 37.5". Later, FSN would air highlight shows from the UFC.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: "UFC 40" proved to be the most critical event to date in the Zuffa era. The event was a near sellout of 13,022 at the MGM Grand Arena and sold 150,000 pay-per-view buys, a rate roughly double that of the previous Zuffa events. The event featured a card headlined by a championship match between then-current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz and former UFC Superfight Champion Ken Shamrock, who had previously left to professional wrestling in the WWE before returning to MMA. It was the first time the UFC hit such a high mark since being forced "underground" in 1997. "UFC 40" also garnered mainstream attention from media outlets such as ESPN and "USA Today", something that was unfathomable for mixed martial arts at that point in time. Many have suggested that the success of "UFC 40" and the anticipation for Ortiz vs. Shamrock saved the UFC from bankruptcy; the buyrates of the previous Zuffa shows averaged a mere 45,000 buys per event, and the company was suffering deep monetary losses. The success of "UFC 40" provided a glimmer of hope for the UFC and kept alive the hope that mixed martial arts could become big. Beyond the rivalry itself, the success of UFC 40 was due in part to the marketing and outreach power of crossover athletes – from Pro Wrestling to MMA and MMA to Pro Wrestling – a practice with roots in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships. Long time UFC referee "Big" John McCarthy said that he felt UFC 40 was the turning point in whether or not the sport of MMA would survive in America.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: Despite the success of "UFC 40", the UFC was still experiencing financial deficits. By 2004, Zuffa had $34 million of losses since they purchased the UFC.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: Faced with the prospect of folding, the UFC stepped outside the bounds of pay-per-view and made a foray into television. After being featured in a reality television series, "American Casino", and seeing how well the series worked as a promotion vehicle, the Fertitta brothers developed the idea of the UFC's own reality series.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: Their idea, "The Ultimate Fighter" ("TUF") was a reality television show featuring up-and-coming MMA fighters in competition for a six-figure UFC contract, with fighters eliminated from competition via exhibition mixed martial arts matches. It was pitched to several networks, each one rejecting the idea outright. Not until they approached Spike TV, with an offer to pay the $10 million production costs themselves, did they find an outlet.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: In January 2005, Spike TV launched "The Ultimate Fighter 1" in the timeslot following "WWE Raw." The show became an instant success, culminating with a notable season finale brawl featuring light heavyweight finalists Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar going toe-to-toe for the right to earn the six-figure contract. The live broadcast of the season finale drew a very impressive 1.9 overall rating. Dana White credits "TUF 1" for saving the UFC.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: On the heels of the Griffin/Bonnar finale, a second season of "The Ultimate Fighter" launched in August 2005, and two more seasons appeared in 2006. Spike and the UFC continued to create and air new seasons until the show moved to FX in 2012.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: Following the success of "The Ultimate Fighter", Spike also picked up "UFC Unleashed", an hour-long weekly show featuring select fights from previous events. Spike also signed on to broadcast live "UFC Fight Night", a series of fight events debuting in August 2005, and "Countdown" specials to promote upcoming UFC pay-per-view cards.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: After a very successful run on Spike and with the upcoming announcement of the UFC's new relationship with Fox, Spike officials made a statement regarding the end of their partnership with the UFC, ""The Ultimate Fighter" season 14 in September will be our last... Our 6-year partnership with the UFC has been incredibly beneficial in building both our brands, and we wish them all the best in the future."


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: With the announcement of UFC's partnership with Fox in August 2011, "The Ultimate Fighter", which entered its 14th season in that September, moved to the FX network to air on Friday nights starting with season 15 in the Spring of 2012. Along with the network change, episodes are now edited and broadcast within a week of recording instead of a several-month delay, and elimination fights are aired live.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: With increased visibility, the UFC's pay-per-view buy numbers exploded. "UFC 52", the first event after the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter" featuring eventual-UFC Hall of Famer: Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell, avenging his defeat to fellow eventual-Hall of Famer, Randy Couture, drew a pay-per-view audience of 300,000, doubling its previous benchmark of 150,000 set at "UFC 40". Following the second season of "The Ultimate Fighter", the UFC's match between Liddell and Couture drew an estimated 410,000 pay-per-view buys at "UFC 57".


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: For the rest of 2006, pay-per-view buy rates continued to skyrocket, with 620,000 buys for "UFC 60: Hughes vs. Gracie"—featuring Royce Gracie's first UFC fight in 11 years—and 775,000 buys for "UFC 61" featuring the highly anticipated rematch between Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz, the coaches of "The Ultimate Fighter 3". The organization hit a milestone with "UFC 66", pitting Ortiz in a rematch against Liddell with over 1 million buys.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: The surge in popularity prompted the UFC to beef up its executive team. In March 2006, the UFC announced that it had hired Marc Ratner, former executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission, as Vice President of Regulatory Affairs. Ratner, once an ally of Senator McCain's campaign against "no holds barred" fighting, lobbied numerous athletic commissions to help raise the UFC's media profile in an attempt to legalize mixed martial arts in jurisdictions inside and outside the United States that had yet to sanction the sport.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: In December 2006, Zuffa acquired the northern California-based promotion World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) in order to stop the International Fight League (IFL) from making a deal with Versus (now NBC Sports Network). At the time, the UFC had an exclusive deal with Spike, so the purchase of the WEC allowed Zuffa to block the IFL from Versus without violating their contract. The WEC showcased lighter weight classes in MMA, whereas the UFC featured heavier weight classes.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: In December 2006, Zuffa also acquired their cross-town, Las Vegas rival World Fighting Alliance (WFA).


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: The sport's popularity was also noticed by the sports betting community as BodogLife.com, an online gambling site, stated in July 2007 that in 2007 UFC would surpass boxing for the first time in terms of betting revenues. In fact, the UFC had already broken the pay-per-view industry's all-time records for a single year of business, generating over $222,766,000 in revenue in 2006, surpassing both WWE and boxing.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: The UFC continued its rapid rise from near obscurity with Roger Huerta gracing the cover of "Sports Illustrated" and Chuck Liddell on the front of "ESPN The Magazine" in May 2007.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: On March 27, 2007, the UFC and their Japan-based rival the Pride Fighting Championships announced an agreement in which the majority owners of the UFC, Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, would purchase the Pride brand.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: Initial intentions were for the organizations to be run separately but aligned together with plans to co-promote cards featuring the champions and top contenders from both organizations. However, after purchasing Pride, Dana White felt that the Pride model was not sustainable and the organization would likely fold with many former Pride fighters such as Antônio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira, Maurício "Shogun" Rua, Dan Henderson, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović, Wanderlei Silva, and others already being realigned under the UFC brand. On October 4, 2007, Pride Worldwide closed its Japanese office, laying off 20 people who were working there since the closing of its parent company Dream Stage Entertainment (DSE).


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: On June 18, 2008, Lorenzo Fertitta accommodated the UFC's growth by announcing his resignation from Station Casinos in order to devote his energies to the international business development of Zuffa, particularly the UFC. The move proved to be pivotal, as Fertitta helped strike TV deals in China, France, Mexico, and Germany as well as open alternative revenue streams with a new UFC video game and UFC action figures, among other projects.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: Popularity surged in 2009 with "UFC 100" and the 10 events preceding it including "UFC 90", "91", "92", "94", and "98". "UFC 100" was a success garnering 1.6 million buys under the drawing power of former NCAA wrestling and WWE Champion Brock Lesnar and his rematch with former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir, Canadian Georges St-Pierre going head-to-head with Brazilian Thiago Alves, and American Dan Henderson opposing British Michael Bisping at middleweight after the two were rival coaches on "".


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: "UFC 100" drew interest from ESPN, which provided coverage of the event in the days preceding and following it. ESPN would eventually devote additional coverage of the UFC and other MMA news with the television debut of "MMA Live" on ESPN2 in May 2010.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: The buzz from "UFC 100" was hampered significantly in the second half of 2009 after a rash of injuries and other health-related issues—including Brock Lesnar's life-threatening bout with diverticulitis—forcing the organization to continuously scramble and reshuffle its lineup for several events.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: However, the momentum gradually began to pick up in the first quarter of 2010 after victories from defending champions Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva, as well as Lyoto Machida's first career defeat to "Shogun" Rua for the UFC Light Heavyweight title. These fights segued into a very popular clash between former UFC Champions and rivals Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson—rival coaches on ""—at "UFC 114", featuring the UFC's first main event headlined by black fighters. The event scored over 1 million pay per view buys as Evans secured a unanimous decision victory.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: This momentum carried into the summer of 2010 at "UFC 116", which featured the return of Brock Lesnar defending his UFC Heavyweight title against the undefeated interim-champion Shane Carwin before 1.25 million PPV viewers. Lesnar survived an early barrage of Carwin's punches in a contest that was nearly stopped by referee Josh Rosenthal. However, Lesnar recovered in the second round to submit Carwin via arm-triangle choke to retain the undisputed UFC Heavyweight Championship. The event as a whole was critically acclaimed in the media for living up to the hype with a number of exciting fights.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: After a fifth round, last-minute victory by UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva over Chael Sonnen at "UFC 117", Lesnar finally surrendered his belt to the undefeated Cain Velasquez via 1st-round TKO at "UFC 121". The fight produced Velasquez's eighth knockout or technical knockout in his first nine MMA fights.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: "UFC 129" featured Georges St-Pierre vs. Jake Shields at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is currently the largest UFC event in North American history, which coincided with a two-day UFC Fan Expo at the Direct Energy Centre. The event sold out 55,000 tickets for gate revenues exceeding $11 million, shattering previous MMA attendance and gate records in North America.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: On November 5, 2016, the UFC had their first exhibition in New York City after years of being delayed by government officials and red tape with a dramatic first match, Conor McGregor vs. Eddie Alvarez.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: Zuffa, the parent company of the UFC, purchased World Extreme Cagefighting in late 2006 and held the first WEC event under new ownership on January 20, 2007. Soon thereafter the WEC made its home on the Versus Network with its first event debuting on that network in June 2007.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: On October 28, 2010, Zuffa announced that WEC would merge with the UFC. The WEC held its final card on December 16, 2010. As a result of the merger, the UFC absorbed WEC's bantamweight, featherweight and lightweight weight divisions and their respective fighters. The UFC also made the last WEC Featherweight and Bantamweight Champions, José Aldo and Dominick Cruz respectively, the inaugural UFC Champions of their new weight divisions.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: Reed Harris, who started World Extreme Cagefighting with Scott Adams, had mixed emotions on the merger. "It's kind of like when your kid goes off to college: at first you're not happy, but after you think about it for a while, you're really happy," Harris said following the announcement. "At the end of the day, I never imagined this thing would be where we're at today. I'm extremely proud and happy that I was involved with something that will now be part of what may be, some day, the largest sports organization in the world."


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: On March 12, 2011, Dana White announced that Zuffa had purchased Strikeforce. White said that Strikeforce will operate as an independent promotion, and that Scott Coker will continue to run the promotion. Strikeforce CEO Coker announced the return of Fedor Emelianenko on an unspecified July or August event and said that Zuffa-owned company would continue to co-promote with M-1 Global. After an extension was reached to continue Strikeforce through 2012, the promotion's heavyweight division (sans Heavyweight Grand Prix finalists) was merged into the UFC, and the promotion's Challengers series was ended.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: The final Strikeforce show was on January 12, 2013, after which the promotion was dissolved and all fighter contracts were either ended or absorbed into the UFC.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: On August 18, 2011, The Ultimate Fighting Championship and Fox announced a seven-year broadcast deal through the Fox Sports subsidiary, effectively ending the UFC's Spike TV and Versus (now NBC Sports Network) partnership. The deal includes four events on the main Fox network, 32 live Friday night fights per year on their cable network FX, 24 events following "The Ultimate Fighter" reality show and six separate Fight Night events.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: The promotion's first broadcast television event – – broke form by showcasing only one fight to television viewers. In the main event, Junior dos Santos abruptly dethroned then-undefeated UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez by knock-out at 1:04 in the first round. The telecast peaked with 8.8 million viewers tuning into the fight with an average audience of 5.7 million, making it by far the most-watched MMA event of all-time and the most-watched combat sports event since 2003's HBO bout between Lennox Lewis and Vitali Klitschko.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: One of the other programming opportunities that emerged was a weekly UFC magazine-style show. When asked about potential for a weekly magazine-style series, UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta responded, "Not only weekly, but potentially, multiple times per week you'll have a UFC magazine (show)." The UFC maintained production control of its product including use of its broadcast team, Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan. Fox Sports produced pre- and post-shows.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: On November 16, 2012, the eve of UFC 154: St. Pierre vs. Condit, Dana White confirmed the UFC would feature women's MMA with the signing of its first female fighter, Strikeforce bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey. She subsequently became the first female UFC champion, the first Olympic medalist with a UFC title, and the first woman to defend a UFC title. She would successfully defend her title six times.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: On December 11, 2013, the UFC purchased the contracts of 11 female fighters from Invicta Fighting Championships to launch their 115-pound Strawweight division. Eight of the Invicta fighters took part in the 20th season of "The Ultimate Fighter", "", along with eight additional fighters signed up for the tournament via open tryouts. Season winner, Invicta FC's Strawweight Champion, Carla Esparza became the first UFC women's strawweight champion, defeating Rose Namajunas in the finale. Other fighters on the show included Felice Herrig, Tecia Torres, Bec Hyatt, Randa Markos, Jessica Penne, and Joanna Jędrzejczyk.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: The first UFC event to be held outside the contiguous United States was UFC 8 in Puerto Rico, a US territory, in 1996.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: Canada has hosted events 18 times, starting with UFC 83 in 2008 and most recently in 2015 with UFC 186. UFC's biggest event to date was also in Canada, as UFC 129 held at Rogers Centre featured a record-breaking attendance of 55,724.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: The United Kingdom has been home to 16 events. The first was UFC 38 held in London in 2002. UFC returned to the United Kingdom in 2007 with UFC 70, and visited Northern Ireland for UFC 72. The UK's most recent event was at England with in 2022. Ireland has held UFC 93 in 2009 and 5 years later. In continental Europe, Germany has hosted 6 times, the first being UFC 99 in 2009, UFC 122 in 2010, in 2014, in 2015, in 2016, and most recently, in 2018. Sweden has hosted 3 times, starting with in 2012, and recently with in 2015. Poland had its first event with in 2015.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: The first Brazilian event was UFC Brazil: Ultimate Brazil, held in São Paulo in 1998. The promotion did not return to Brazil until 2011 for UFC 134, but since then, the country has hosted a further 20 events. Their most recent visit was . In 2014, Mexico became the second country in Latin America to host an event with UFC 180, followed by a second event, UFC 188, in 2015.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: Seven UFC events have been held in Australia, beginning with UFC 110 in 2010 and most recently in December 2018 with UFC Fight Night 142. New Zealand held its first event in 2014, . Its most recent event was in February 2020.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: In Asia, the UFC has visited 5 countries. Japan had its first visit in 1997 for . The UFC only returned to the country in 2012, with UFC 144. Their last visit was in 2014 for , the seventh event there. The promotion has also featured 2 visits to the United Arab Emirates. The first was in 2010 for UFC 112 and the second in 2014 for . The promotion has also visited Macau in 3 occasions: China's special administrative region was first visited in 2012 with and last visited in 2014 for . The promotion has also visited Singapore with in 2014. The Philippines was the most recent Asian country that the UFC has visited, with in 2015.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: The Ultimate Fighter has had international editions as well: Brazil (since 2012), Australia (vs. United Kingdom – 2012), China (2013), Canada (vs. Australia – 2014), and Latin America (2014).


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: On February 27, 2014, the Nevada State Athletic Commission banned the use of Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT). The UFC followed suit and banned the use of TRT for any of their events, including international markets where the UFC oversees regulatory efforts.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: In December 2014, an antitrust lawsuit was filed against Zuffa by several fighters, claiming the organization restricts control over fighters’ careers and earning potential. The case moved to Nevada federal court, where Zuffa was denied its motion to stay discovery for 15 years of its financial records.


title: Ultimate Fighting Championship

text: This caused an ongoing debate and struggle over how UFC sensitive information should be handled, and who may view it. Especially concerning MMAFA founder, Rob Maysey who has taken the lead in representing the former athletes and has stated he hopes to achieve reforms similar to the Ali Act (2000).