Victor M. Rodriguez & Mookie Alexander are here to recap the ‘FIGHT ZONE’ PPV event featuring a strange hybrid of mixed martial arts and pro wrestling tactics from May, 1995.
Welcome to the 6th Round Retro Post-Fight Show. This is the show that digs into the archives and gives you a comprehensive review of classic MMA events, that span as far back as UFC 1.
Join Victor Rodriguez & Mookie Alexander as they deviate from the normal format of the show and rather than delving into an MMA event of yesteryear they are covering the ‘FIGHT ZONE’ PPV (pay-per-view) event which aired on the “Action Pay-Per-View-Channel” in May 1995. The event was produced by boxing phenom Sugar Ray Leonard. Notable to pro wrestling fans would be the appearance of Tony Hale, who appeared in the WWF as Ludvig Borga in 1993.
So let’s take a trip back to the mid-90s this week and check out this strange hybrid of mixed martial arts and pro wrestling tactics, complete with results, analysis, and of course a few laughs.
As mentioned, this week we feature the May, 1995 ‘FIGHT ZONE’ PPV event, (last episode we covered BELLATOR 58: ‘Michael Chandler vs Eddie Alvarez’). This event can be viewed while we delve into the show on YouTube or in the player below… Let’s check it out!
We start off the program with a totally nineties hype-train opener: “If raw, bare-fisted combat is what you crave – then enter the FIGHT ZONE! The most dangerous place on Earth!!!”
The show went down from the “world famous Hollywood Palladium Arena” in California. Your ‘commentators’ were Danny Martinez and Cameron Fedder (a self-described underground fight devotee and fan of violence). The big name host of the show was none other than Eric Estrada (of television hit show C.H.I.P.S. fame), along with co-host Ray Leonard, Jr.. Their ‘Reporter on the Floor’ was Brad Fuller and their ‘Technical Advisor’ & Former World Karate Champion, Michael Jai White was on the scene for ‘fight insights’.
They had a lengthy cast lined up for the event which included:
Willie Anderson Jr aka: ‘Pit Fighter’, Adam Avoledo aka: ‘Badd Karma’, Clayton J. Barber aka: ‘Hollywood’, Richard Branden aka: ‘Daddy Rich’, Spitfire Brown aka: ‘Spitfire’, Michael Chaturantabut aka: ‘Captain Kick’, Genrri Diammante aka: ‘Henry’, Cameron Flener, R.J. Frost aka: ‘Flyboy’, Mitch Gould aka: ‘Mr. Smith’, Rickson Gracie, Tony Hale aka: ‘Viking’, Jeff Harris aka: ‘J.D. Harms’, Carlton Holder, Tom Howard, Howard Jackson, Pat E. Johnson, Kazja as himself, Tae-John Lee, Rae Manzon, Brad Martin aka: ‘The Plow’, Andre McCoy aka: ‘Cheap Shot’, Scott McElroy aka: ‘Bruce Burly’, Mario Mugavero, Hien Nguyen, Richard Notron, Mikael Paul Patrick O’Tighearnaigh aka: ‘Irish Assassin’, Chris Palermo, Erik Paulson, Eric Perrodin aka: ‘Phlash’, J.J. Perry, Matthew Pollino aka: ‘El Muerte’, Dennis Reese aka: ‘Garbage Man’, Burton Richardson, J.D. Rifkin aka: ‘Suit’, Cynthia Rothrock, Joe Son, Chad Stahelski aka: ‘Ski’, Nils Allen Stewart aka: ‘Mongolian’, Jen Sung, Lelagi Togisala aka: ‘Butch’, Takis Triggelis aka: ‘Genre’, Kenneth Turner aka: ‘KC Flow’, Don Wilson, and Marcus Young aka: ‘Tetsuo’. And you can’t forget, ‘The Easy Riders Leather Girls’. Yes, all of that talent appeared in under an hour.
The show was produced by Seth Ersoff, Brad Fuller and Sugar Ray Leonard. Stunts performed by J.D. Rifkin with an on-site Stunt Coordinator, Jan Washburn.
A popular television gimmick at the time was phone-in viewer interactivity, so the program invited the viewers to call their hotline after the show and vote for who they wanted to be the Champion, regardless them winning their bout or not.
If you enjoyed our show, give us a shout out in the comments here on Bloody Elbow, or give us a “like”, share & subscribe over on one of our other BE Presents Channels: SoundCloud, YouTube, iTunes & Apple TV, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, OverCast, or Player FM – whichever one happens to be your listening platform of choice. While you’re there, don’t forget to subscribe to Bloody Elbow Presents; that way you’ll always be the first to get all of BE’s daily MMA offerings. For previous episodes of the show, check out our playlists on all of our BE Presents channels.