Ten years ago, it was perceived as a bar fight.

Now, Icon Sport has evolved into an iconic organization in the sport of mixed martial arts.

The Icon Sport organization — formerly known as Super Brawl — has as much to do with the popularity of mixed martial arts in Hawai'i as anything. And it is very popular, filling the Blaisdell Center Arena on a regular basis.

Icon Sport will celebrate its 10th anniversary on Saturday when Robbie Lawler and Jason "Mayhem" Miller meet for the middleweight championship at the Blaisdell.

"It truly is amazing to think how much the sport has grown in those 10 years," Icon Sport president T. Jay Thompson said. "And the exciting part is, I think it can only grow some more in the next 10 years."

There was a time when mixed martial arts events were viewed by Hawai'i lawmakers as excessively violent and dangerous. Icon Sport survived the laws created to make the sport safer, and has thrived since.

"We've played by the rules set forth by the state," Thompson said. "To be honest, we've evolved more for the politicians than anybody else."

Thompson laughs when recalling the first mixed martial arts show he promoted in January 1996. It took place before a "couple hundred" fans at Gussie L'amour's — a night club that no longer exists.

"But what sticks out in my mind is that I took out a classified ad in the newspaper saying 'fighters wanted' and I got like 85 calls the next day," Thompson said. "It was a little odd that during every other call, I could hear chickens in the background."

By June 1996, the bouts became so popular that Thompson moved to the Blaisdell Arena. Crowds of around 3,000 were showing up during the early years at the Blaisdell.

"Super Brawl was the big thing for all the local guys who were training," said Waipahu's Ray Cooper, who won a tournament in Super Brawl 3. "That was the big show everybody wanted to get into."

But popularity led to scrutiny.

Cooper, who is still active in mixed martial arts, said the rules have changed significantly over 10 years.

"I remember you could head-butt back then, and I used to do it all the time," he said. "The rules they have now definitely made it safer. I think it's more geared toward the sport aspect rather than the street fight aspect."

In June 1997, the state passed a law banning "no-holds barred" competitions. Thompson responded by implementing several rules, including penalties or disqualifications for head-butts and kicking a fallen opponent, and 5-minute time limits per round.

Patrick Freitas joined Thompson's staff in 1999. He said most of the mainstream media outlets in Hawai'i refused to cover the Icon Sport bouts back then.

"They all said it was too violent, and it wasn't a sport," Freitas said. "I think it just took some time and education on the sport. We showed that MMA was a legitimate sport and we showed that the crowds were going to come out and watch us.

"It became undeniable."

Now, all the main sports media outlets in Hawai'i provide some type of coverage for Icon Sport events.

Thompson credits one competitor in particular for the rise in popularity of Icon Sport — Honolulu's Egan Inoue. When Inoue first fought on a Super Brawl card in 1999, nearly 8,000 fans attended.

"People knew who he was, and he became the hero the local people could cheer for," Thompson said. "All of a sudden, this wasn't just for the hard-core MMA fan. Egan brought the everyday fan into it."

Inoue, who is now retired from competition, said he didn't think the organization would survive its early struggles, so he fought mostly in Japan in the late 1990s.

"I figured it would get banned, sooner or later," he said. "I was just shocked at how many people were there for my first fight. Right then, I knew the sport was here to stay. It was exciting to be a part of that."

When Thompson first started promoting his events, he said there were "maybe two" mixed martial arts schools on O'ahu. Now there are probably more than 100 around the state.

"Super Brawl had everything to do with that," said Inoue, who runs Grappling Unlimited — one of the original MMA schools.

Thompson said: "What makes me so excited about the future is seeing all the kids who are training now. In 10 years, they are going to raise the level of the sport in this state to a whole new level."

Saturday's event will be the 49th produced by the Icon Sport organization, including shows in California, Iowa, Texas and Guam.

Some of the competitors who appeared on past cards and eventually went on to win world championships in larger organizations include Matt Hughes, Dan Severn, Tim Sylvia, Pat Miletich, Vitor Belfort, Takanori Gomi and Frank Shamrock.

"If you ask people in Japan, or in the UFC about fighting in Hawai'i, they all identify (Icon Sport) with Hawai'i," Inoue said. "They basically put Hawai'i on the map for this sport."

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.