Filed under: UFC, FanHouse Exclusive
The internet will tell you that Yves Edwards‘ first fight was against a guy named Todd Justice at the World Pankration Championships on Oct. 26, 1997.
“That’s not right,” Edwards says. “I fought a few weeks, maybe a month before that, in the same building. I fought this guy, I don’t remember his name, Kelly something.”
It hardly needs to be said, but they did things differently at “pankration” events in Dallas, Texas back in 1997. For one thing, there were the weight classes. They existed, in a way, but they didn’t exactly work in Edwards’ favor.
“There were no weigh-ins whatsoever. I showed up and the guy I was supposed to fight was probably about 185 [pounds] or 190. He was huge. I was probably about 160. It was just kind of like, okay. Here we go.”