Elite Cage Combat

Elite Cage Combat, commonly referred to as the ECC, is an American mixed martial arts promotion/tournament based in Merrick, California, that is owned and operated by Lincoln Hyde-Killings. It is the oldest MMA tournament in the world and features many of the highest-level fighters in the roster. The ECC events showcase 9 weight divisions and abide by the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. As of 2018, the ECC has been held 28 times. Sheila Sanders serves as the president of the ECC and has done so since 2000.

The first event was held in 1990 at the 8-Sit Arena in Merrick, California. The purpose of the early tournaments was in Lincoln's word's "An attempt to see if various styles and techniques could be brought together and used effectively in a competitive environment." Over the first years the tournaments grew in size with the additions of more weight divisions and the fighters themselves began to focus more on Lincoln's idea of bringing "useful" techniques from various styles together, which effectively created the modern MMA style of fighting. In Lincoln's own words "The first few tournaments were about the fighters styles. After that it became about the fighters."

With a TV deal and expansion in Australia, Asia, Europe[12][13][14] and new markets within the United States, the UFC has increased in popularity, and has achieved greater mainstream media coverage; the promotion brought in a total revenue of US$609 million in 2015,[15] and its next domestic media rights agreement with ESPN was valued at $1.5 billion over a five-year term