Best movies like Fighting for a Generation: 20 Years of the UFC

The Year of the Yao is a documentary film telling the first year of basketball player Yao Ming in the United States.

The Universal Language is a new documentary from Academy Award-nominated director Sam Green (The Weather Underground). This 30-minute film traces the history of Esperanto, an artificial language that was created in the late 1800s by a Polish eye doctor who believed that if everyone in the world spoke a common tongue, humanity could overcome racism and war. Fittingly, the word “Esperanto” means “one who hopes.” During the early 20th century, hundreds of thousands of people around the world spoke Esperanto and believed in its ideals. Today, surprisingly, a vibrant Esperanto movement still exists. In this first-ever documentary about Esperanto, Green creates a portrait of the language and those who speak it today that is at once humorous, poignant, stirring, and ultimately hopeful.

The Wrecker is a British film that tells the story of a crook who organises train crashes to discredit the railway, in favour of a rival bus company. The stunts in this film were groundbreaking for 1920s British cinema A scene wich has been discribed as "the most spectacular rail crash in cinema history" was recorded by 22 cameras.

Follows the Boston Red Sox' Tim Wakefield and the New York Mets' R.A. Dickey - the only two major league pitchers who use the unpredictable knuckleball - during the 2011 season.

A high school biology teacher moonlights as a mixed-martial arts fighter in an effort to raise money to save the school's music program.

From neighborhood ciphers to the most notorious MC battles, "Freestyle: the Art of Rhyme" captures the electrifying energy of improvisational hip-hop--the rarely recorded art form of rhyming spontaneously. Like preachers and jazz solos, freestyles exist only in the moment, a modern-day incarnation of the African-American storytelling tradition. Shot over a period of more than seven years, it is already an underground cult film in the hip-hop world. The film systematically debunks the false image put out by record companies that hip-hop culture is violent or money-obsessed. Instead, it lets real hip-hop artists, known and unknown, weave their story out of a passionate mix of language, politics, and spirituality.

Documentary detailing the life of James Eagan Holmes who was the suspected perpetrator of a mass shooting that occurred on July 20, 2012, at a movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado. He had no known criminal record prior to the shooting. This film includes several witness testimonies, news reports, theories and ideas behind the motives of the crime.

A documentary by photographer Sam Jones documenting American rock band Wilco recording their fourth album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Originally intended as a showcase of the band's creative process, the film crew catches unexpected complications between the band and its record label and problems among the band members themselves.

After bassist Jason Newsted quits the band in 2001, heavy metal superstars Metallica realize that they need an intervention. In this revealing documentary, filmmakers follow the three rock stars as they hire a group therapist and grapple with 20 years of repressed anger and aggression. Between searching for a replacement bass player, creating a new album and confronting their personal demons, the band learns to open up in ways they never thought possible.

In 1959, Berry Gordy Jr. gathered the best musicians from Detroit's thriving jazz and blues scene to begin cutting songs for his new record company. Over a fourteen year period they were the heartbeat on every hit from Motown's Detroit era. By the end of their phenomenal run, this unheralded group of musicians had played on more number ones hits than the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, Elvis and the Beatles combined - which makes them the greatest hit machine in the history of popular music. They called themselves the Funk Brothers. Forty-one years after they played their first note on a Motown record and three decades since they were all together, the Funk Brothers reunited back in Detroit to play their music and tell their unforgettable story, with the help of archival footage, still photos, narration, interviews, re-creation scenes, 20 Motown master tracks, and twelve new live performances of Motown classics with the Brothers backing up contemporary performers.

10 years before the debut of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. In 1979, Bill Viola and Frank Caliguri dreamed up a contest pitting barroom bigmouths against wrestlers, martial artists, boxers, bouncers and brawlers, billed as no-holds-barred new type of competitive fighting. When the fights succeeded beyond their wildest expectations, they were swept up in a chain of events that ended in the first mixed-martial arts ban in the nation. “Tough Guys” chronicles the inception of Caliguri and Viola’s first bouts and the colorful, crazy cast of fighters who made them a hit as well as the politicians who brought it all crashing down. The film brings to life a moment when the national martial arts craze was building to a crescendo as the economies of Pennsylvania steel towns were plummeting to levels of unemployment never seen, breeding desperate men looking for a chance to prove their worth and make some money in the ring.

This documentary chronicles former Olympian and UFC champion Ronda Rousey's ascent to iconic status in the world of mixed martial arts.

After a blood- soaked jujitsu match in Dubai, fighting legend Mickey Kelley falls to superstar Blaine. But years later, an online video proves that Blaine cheated, and the world demands a rematch. Can the aging underdog get back into shape in time to vanquish his foe, get revenge, and claim his prize?

In February 2022, The Boy Scouts Of America reached a $2.7 billion agreement over sex abuse claims, the largest such settlement in history. Leave No Trace explores how this all-American institution went so horrifyingly wrong.

Today it's a symbol of strength and vitality. 135 years ago, it was a source of controversy. This documentary examines the great problems and ingenious solutions that marked the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. From conception to construction, it traces the bridge's transformation from a spectacular feat of heroic engineering to an honored symbol in American culture.

The 40 year mystery uncovered by his wife. This is the story of Lord Lucan, playboy, aristocrat, gambler and murderer. The public has been transfixed for over 40 years, when on November 7th, 1974 Lucan family nanny Sandra Rivett was killed and he disappeared without a trace. Ever since, one voice has remained almost entirely silent; his wife, Lady Lucan. Now she wants to set the record straight.

A documentary film by Peter I. Chang which traces the life of the Japanese musician Hisao Shinagawa through his early years as a folk singer in Tokyo to his current occupation as a street performer in Los Angeles.

As its title implies, this video attempts to go beyond the public persona of one of major league baseball's greatest stars. Accepting Ruth as a larger-than-life figure, this 59-minute video doesn't attempt to rationalize, apologize, or analyze his behavior. Rather, it endeavors to present an unbiased account of the life of George Herman Ruth, contradictions and all.

On June 20, 2009, Neda Agha-Soltan was shot and killed on the streets of Tehran during the turmoil that followed the Iranian presidential contest. Within hours, images of her dying moments, captured on cell phones, appeared on computer screens across the world, focusing the world's attention on mass protests against the rigged elections in Iran. Featuring previously unseen footage of Neda with friend and family, as well as exclusive video of her recorded the day she died, "For Neda" debuts just before the anniversary of her death.

Explores the personal and professional life of former NFL and Ole Miss quarterback Archie Manning and how the sudden loss of his father impacted his life and the way he and his wife Olivia raised their three sons.

Traces the long and ferocious rivalry between Coke and Pepsi, centered on the "New Coke" debacle of 1985. For almost a hundred years, Coke had been the undisputed leader in the multibillion dollar global soda industry--stodgy, predictable, but indisputably top dog--while Pepsi had been the upstart No. 2, forever poking at its big brother with cutting edge advertising. But in 1985, in a stranger-than-fiction twist, Coca-Cola's executives took a step so daring that no one in either company could believe it: they changed the formula of the most popular beverage on the planet.

Brothers Colin and Ewan McGregor follow up their documentary The Battle of Britain with a film exploring Bomber Command, a rarely told story from the Second World War. The film focuses primarily on the men who fought and died in the skies above occupied Europe, with numerous examples of individual heroism and extraordinary collective spirit, and Colin learns to fly the key aircraft of the campaign: the Lancaster bomber. But this is also the story of a controversy that has lasted almost 70 years. The program covers six years of wartime operations, and traces the obstacles and challenges that were overcome as the RAF developed and deployed the awesome fighting force that was Bomber Command.

The full story of an epic in-ring rivalry and the fascinating personal relationship that went along with it.

For over two decades, International Cricket Star Sachin Tendulkar dominated his sport and claimed lost every record for his home nation India. But the one thing that eluded him was the sports ultimate prize - the cricket World Cup.

Documentary about the life and legend of Sarah L. Winchester, heiress to the Winchester Repeating Arms Company who, after the death of her husband and only child moved to San Jose, California and constructed non-stop what came to be known as the Winchester Mystery House during the last 38 years of her life. The film traces Mrs. Winchester's life from her marriage into the wealthy Winchester family, whose family business supplied many of the repeating rifles sold to the United States Army during and after the Civil War and follows her eccentric life in California where, according to legend, she was advised by a mystic to provide shelter for spirits of the victims of her husband's rifles or follow him to an early grave. It provides point-of-view shots of the interior and exterior of the rambling Victorian mansion.

David Harewood had a psychotic breakdown and was sectioned in his 20s. David traces his steps, meeting young people living with psychosis and the NHS professionals who treat them.

The film explores Mauro Ranallo’s career, including his work on the two biggest pay-per-view events in television history, and his relentless pursuit of a childhood dream despite seemingly insurmountable odds. Through this deeply personal portrait, Ranallo hopes that the film might inspire others to persevere in pursuing their dreams despite the challenges of a mental health condition.

Examines the 20 of the most shocking unsolved crimes in history including the disappearance of Adam Walsh, the murder of Jam-Master Jay, the murders of Jason Allen and Lindsay Cutshall, the Tylenol Poisoning scare, the mysterious death of musician Bobby Fuller, the Zodiac Killer, the assassination of spy Alexander Litvinenko, the murder of Vanessa Johnson, the murder of Amber Hagerman, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Robbery, the disappearance of George Allen Smith, disappearance of heiress Jacqueline Levitz, the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, the 2001 Anthrax attacks, the D.B Cooper skyjacking, the murder of Chandra Levy, the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa, the murder of the Black Dahlia, the murder of JonBenet Ramsey, and the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.

Documentary celebrating the triumph, tragedy and human comedy that was Manchester record company, Factory. Started by the late Tony Wilson, Alan Erasmus, Peter Saville and Martin Hannett in the late 1970s, it became known as the home of Joy Divsion, New Order and Happy Mondays and for creating the Hacienda club. The label pioneered Britain's independent pop culture, creating a new Manchester and blowing a shed-load of money. Includes interviews with all the main players in the Factory story.

This History Channel documentary traces the Ottoman Empire from its beginnings in the 14th century to its incarnation as one of the largest empires in history, spanning three continents.

The Dotted Line is an in-depth look at what it takes to be a big-time agent in the fiercely competitive world of major league sports. Agents Peter Greenberg and Eugene Lee are profiled along with their clients New York Mets' pitcher Johan Santana (Greenberg's) and NFL hopefuls Jacquian Williams and Robert Hughes (Lee's).

A BBC4 Documentary on the rise and fall and resurgence of the venerable LP record, and the dynamics of marketing and consumption of music as told through artists and musicians of the classic album eras of the 60s and 70s.

One record company has been a constant presence in popular music throughout our lives. EMI brought The Beatles to the world and in every decade since has been instrumental in producing some of Britain's most celebrated and enduring music.

The digital age has heralded a new unprecedented means of surveillance, and as more of our personal information goes online, more of our lives are subject to state-sponsored espionage. Governments with dubious human rights records are now using mass surveillance technology to thoroughly track and quell any murmurs of dissent - and it is western companies that are providing the technology to do so.

The film investigates explicit representations of female sexuality by women, exploring the pragmatic and philosophical questions they pose, with emphasis on the ways in which the creation of women-friendly pornography confronts and alters the expectations of male consumers. Ultimately, Nitoslawska is concerned with how we comprehend desire, gender and identity, how we understand and represent its history, and the resulting affect on culture and human relations.

A retrospective on the importance of the kiss in the classic films of the 20s through the 50s.

The stories behind many medal of honor winners, as told by their recipients, observers and the official records. The documentary features interviews and archive footage.

The documentary traced the fast food company's journey from Route 66 diner to planet-conquering giant.

Showtime's "In the 20th Century" is a millennium-related strand of feature-length documentaries in which famous directors take on major subjects of their choosing. In the second of the six films, "From Behind Closed Doors," filmmaker Robert Townsend delves into America's fraught relationship with sex and sexuality, using New York's Times Square as the focal point as he traces 100 years of sexual mores and practices.

Nick Newell, a one-armed MMA fighter gets a rare chance to fight for the lightweight championship. He strives to win for himself and all the other people in the world with physical challenges.

Riding off the heels of her sister Scarlett’s championship legacy, Cassady Jones is now the EFC Champion and the new face of women’s mixed martial arts. Alexa Star begins to rise quickly through the ranks with fervor to become the number one contender for the EFC championship. With ripples of excitement and anticipation, Cassady and Alexa collide for the first time only to find themselves in a melee that shocks the entire sports world, while leaving EFC in the most tumultuous period of its history. As Donna and Nikki fight to keep the floundering EFC alive, majority shareholder Frank Russo recruits John David for one last strike at liquidating and selling off the assets of the company while dissolving the only women’s mixed martial arts promotion in the country. With the future of the company at stake, the fight for EFC isn’t just another fight, it’s the fight for everything.

A talent scout and her colleague form their own company when their agency ignores their latest discovery.

UFC 290: Volkanovski vs. Rodríguez was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 8, 2023, at the T-Mobile Arena facility in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States. A UFC Featherweight Championship unification bout between current champion Alexander Volkanovski and interim champion (also The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America featherweight winner) Yair Rodríguez headlined the event. UFC 290 PPV Main Event On ESPN+: 145 lbs.: Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski vs. Yair Rodriguez UFC 290 PPV Co-Main Event On ESPN+: 125 lbs.: Flyweight champion Brandon Moreno vs. Alexandre Pantoja UFC 290 PPV Main Card On ESPN+ (10 p.m. ET): 185 lbs.: Robert Whittaker vs. Dricus Du Plessis 155 lbs.: Dan Hooker vs. Jalin Turner 185 lbs.: Bo Nickal vs. Valentine Woodburn (Tresean Gore injured)

It is 1892 in Death Valley and the yields from the Borax ore are getting so small that refining it is a losing proposition. The only thing that will save the company is a new deposit of high grade Borax, and Skinner Bill Bragg has a pouch of it that he got from a dead prospector he buried on the road. Stag Roper knows the value of the strike could be worth millions, but he needs Bragg to find the prospector's claim so they can record it and become rich partners. While Roper has no intention of cutting Bragg in on the millions, he also has his eye on young Jean Johnson. Josie Johnson, Jean's mother, sees Roper as the scalawag he is, and that means trouble in Furnace Flat.

From the UFC Octagon in Las Vegas and the anthropology lab at Dartmouth, to a strongman gym in Berlin and the bushlands of Zimbabwe, the world is introduced to elite athletes, special ops soldiers, visionary scientists, cultural icons, and everyday heroes—each on a mission to create a seismic shift in the way we eat and live.

From abject poverty to becoming a ten-time boxing world champion, congressman, and international icon, Manny Pacquiao is the true definition of a Cinderella story. In the Philippines, he first entered the ring as a sixteen-year-old weighing ninety-eight pounds with the goal of earning money to feed his family. Now, almost twenty years later, when he fights, the country of 100 million people comes to a complete standstill to watch. Regarded for his ability to bring people together, Pacquiao entered the political arena in 2010. As history’s first boxing congressman, Pacquiao now fights for his people both inside and outside of the ring. Now at the height of his career, he is faced with maneuvering an unscrupulous sport while maintaining his political duties. The question now is, what bridge is too far for Manny Pacquiao to cross?

Legendary documentary of the 1977 package tour arranged by David Robinson and Andrew Jakeman ("Kake Riviera") after they founded Stiff Records in London, England for five of their artists, and the bands that they concocted for the tour.

Why are we still able, today, to view images that were captured over 125 years ago? As we enter the digital age, audiovisual heritage seems to be a sure and obvious fact. However, much of cinema and our filmed history has been lost forever. Archivists, technicians and filmmakers from different parts of the world explain what audiovisual preservation is and why it is necessary. The documentary is a tribute to all these professionals and their important work.

UFC 297: Strickland vs. du Plessis was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on January 20, 2024, at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. A UFC Middleweight Championship bout between current champion Sean Strickland and former KSW Welterweight Champion Dricus du Plessis headlined the event.

This documentary traces the life and work of the legendary "America's Sweetheart" Mary Pickford, silent film star, movie pioneer and keen businesswoman. Pickford's life also parallels an even larger story, telling of the birth of the cinema itself.