Tag: MMA history

Who’s the Real “Father of MMA”? — 10 Fighters More Deserving of the Title Than Bruce Lee


(Dat. Pizza. Dough.)

By Seth Falvo

Though current bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw will not be a playable character in EA Sports UFC when it hits the shelves two weeks from now, Bruce Lee will be. Perhaps equally ridiculous is that Bruce Lee isn’t being treated as a novelty addition to the roster, but rather as “the father of Mixed Martial Arts,” something Dana White has also called him. Giving credit to only one person for the creation of MMA is absurd enough, but painting Bruce Lee as that person is just preposterous.

Then again, it really isn’t hard to understand why Zuffa would want to make someone like Bruce Lee an ambassador for our sport. Lee was — and still is — an instantly recognizable celebrity. His body was ripped and athletic. He knew how to wrestle, sure, but also understood that most people would rather watch him throw flashy kicks. His affirmations were deep enough to look good on playing cards and posters, but not too profound for the bros curling in the squat rack to comprehend. In other words, he appeals to a much larger audience than Edward William Barton-Wright and Tommy Tanaka do.

Even with all that in mind, there are figures in combat sports history who not only did more to mold modern MMA than Bruce Lee, but can also be worked into the charmingly revisionist Zuffa account of history just as well. The following list will focus on the accomplishments of these individuals, as well as the arguments for why they should be repackaged as the fathers of MMA. Let’s start with the oldest candidate, and work our way towards the modern era…


(Dat. Pizza. Dough.)

By Seth Falvo

Though current bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw will not be a playable character in EA Sports UFC when it hits the shelves two weeks from now, Bruce Lee will be. Perhaps equally ridiculous is that Bruce Lee isn’t being treated as a novelty addition to the roster, but rather as “the father of Mixed Martial Arts,” something Dana White has also called him. Giving credit to only one person for the creation of MMA is absurd enough, but painting Bruce Lee as that person is just preposterous.

Then again, it really isn’t hard to understand why Zuffa would want to make someone like Bruce Lee an ambassador for our sport. Lee was — and still is — an instantly recognizable celebrity. His body was ripped and athletic. He knew how to wrestle, sure, but also understood that most people would rather watch him throw flashy kicks. His affirmations were deep enough to look good on playing cards and posters, but not too profound for the bros curling in the squat rack to comprehend. In other words, he appeals to a much larger audience than Edward William Barton-Wright and Tommy Tanaka do.

Even with all that in mind, there are figures in combat sports history who not only did more to mold modern MMA than Bruce Lee, but can also be worked into the charmingly revisionist Zuffa account of history just as well. The following list will focus on the accomplishments of these individuals, as well as the arguments for why they should be repackaged as the fathers of MMA.  Let’s start with the oldest candidate, and work our way towards the modern era…

Dioxippus


(Not Dioxippus, but I know how much you all love this thing…)

Martial Art: Pankration, an Ancient Greek combat sport that allowed punches, kicks, takedowns, joint locks and chokeholds (sound familiar?).
Notable Achievements: Dioxippus of Athens was not only the toughest fighter in Ancient Greece, but arguably the toughest fighter to ever live. In his prime, he was so famous for taking out all challengers that he won an Olympic championship by default (akoniti) because nobody was willing to fight him; he’s the only person to ever win an Olympic wreath in pankration this way. He famously defeated one of Alexander the Great’s best soldiers, Coragus, despite the fact that Coragus wore full armor and had several weapons to use against the naked Dioxippus; you read that correctly, he showed up naked to a fight against a guy in full body armor and won. After the bout, Dioxippus was framed for theft, and chose to take his own life rather than be punished for a crime he did not commit.
Why It Makes Sense: Dana White and Joe Rogan like to remind us that “fighting is in our DNA.” Dioxippus is proof of this.

Bill “The Butcher” Poole


(Again, not Bill “The Butcher” Poole, but rather a character he inspired: Bill “The Butcher” Cutting from Gangs of New York.)

Martial Arts: Bare-knuckle Boxing, Rough & Tumble (aka “Gouging”)
Notable Achievements: Let’s be perfectly clear: Bill “The Butcher” Poole was not an honorable man. The leader of both The Bowery Boys and the Know Nothing political movement, Poole terrorized the streets of New York City while spreading anti-Irish, anti-Catholic hate-speech throughout the mid-nineteenth century. He took part in Rough & Tumble — more accurately called “gouging” due to the fact that eye-gouging was not only allowed, but encouraged — contests as well as bare-knuckle boxing matches. Poole beat up heavyweight boxing champion John Morrissey so badly that The New York Daily Times wrote “[Morrissey] presented a shocking spectacle, and scarcely could any of his friends recognize him.” Though Morrissey’s men would shoot Poole in the chest over the incident, “The Butcher” lived for fourteen days with a bullet lodged in his heart. According to legend, his final words were “Good-bye, boys, I die a true American.”
Why It Makes Sense: Was Bill “The Butcher” Poole a total scumbag? Yes — and that’s the entire point. Since Zuffa history depicts MMA as something that only the most vile, deplorable people took part in until Dana White invented rules (obviously not true, but history is written by the winners), painting Poole as the original MMA fighter actually makes sense.

Evan “Strangler” Lewis

Martial Art: Catch Wrestling
Notable Achievements: Back when professional wrestling was actually a legitimate competition, Evan “Strangler” Lewis was one of the most feared men to lace up the boots. “Strangler” ran through his competition with frightening ease, masterfully utilizing the stranglehold — a technique you more than likely recognize as the rear-naked choke — to secure victory. His win over Ernest Roeber in a best-of-five match on March 2, 1893 made him the first American to become a world champion wrestler. Lewis would defend the title for two years before losing it to Martin “Farmer” Burns, and was inducted into The Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2009. That he wasn’t exactly known for his sportsmanship is another story for another time, as is the way that many wrestling fans confuse him with Ed “Strangler” Lewis.
Why It Makes Sense: He was the blueprint for every freakishly athletic wrestler to ever fight inside the Octagon, from Ken Shamrock to Cain Velasquez and all points in between.

Hit that “Next Page” button for a trio of fighters whose battles against each other made them all legends of the pre-Zuffa era.

A Brief History of MMA — The Real Version, And the Zuffa Version


(Commodus: The original Just Bleed Guy.)

Note: This timeline of MMA’s history is extremely abridged for the sake of brevity. If you’re interested in the topic, Jonathan Snowden’s Total MMA and Shooters, and Clyde Gentry’s No Holds Barred cover MMA history in detail better than I ever could.

By Matt Saccaro

MMA History

684 BCE: Pankration—a hybrid martial art whose name means “all powers”—is introduced into the Olympic games.

19th century: Various mixed rules contests take place throughout the United States, ultimately morphing into what we now call professional wrestling. (Seriously, I can’t recommend Shooters enough for information about this phase of combat sports’ evolution.)

1898: Edward William Barton-Wright invents Bartitsu–a martial art combining boxing, judo, savate, and stick fighting and one of the first dedicated “mixed martial arts” in the entire world. This mixing of styles occurs 42 years before the birth of Bruce Lee, the so-called “father of MMA.”

1905: President Theodore Roosevelt conceptualizes MMA on a whim in a letter to his son, Kermit. “With a little practice in [jiu-jitsu], I am sure that one of our big wrestlers or boxers, simply because of his greatly superior strength, would be able to kill any of those Japanese,” he says in reference to watching a Japanese grappler submit an American wrestler named Joseph Grant.

1914: Judo ambassador and all around tough guy Mitsuyo Maeda arrives in Brazil. In the coming years, he’ll begin teaching the Gracie family judo techniques, planting the seeds for BJJ.

Early-mid 20th century: Vale Tudo competitions emerge in Brazil, and ultimately gain popularity. The Gracie family rises to prominence and enjoys success in these “everything allowed” contests.

1963: Gene Lebell fights Milo Savage in North America’s first televised mixed-rules fight.


(Commodus: The original Just Bleed Guy.)

Note: This timeline of MMA’s history is extremely abridged for the sake of brevity. If you’re interested in the topic, Jonathan Snowden’s Total MMA and Shooters, and Clyde Gentry’s No Holds Barred cover MMA history in detail better than I ever could.

By Matt Saccaro

MMA History

684 BCE: Pankration—a hybrid martial art whose name means “all powers”—is introduced into the Olympic games.

19th century: Various mixed rules contests take place throughout the United States, ultimately morphing into what we now call professional wrestling. (Seriously, I can’t recommend Shooters enough for information about this phase of combat sports’ evolution.)

1898: Edward William Barton-Wright invents Bartitsu–a martial art combining boxing, judo, savate, and stick fighting and one of the first dedicated “mixed martial arts” in the entire world. This mixing of styles occurs 42 years before the birth of Bruce Lee, the so-called “father of MMA.”

1905: President Theodore Roosevelt conceptualizes MMA on a whim in a letter to his son, Kermit. “With a little practice in [jiu-jitsu], I am sure that one of our big wrestlers or boxers, simply because of his greatly superior strength, would be able to kill any of those Japanese,” he says in reference to watching a Japanese grappler submit an American wrestler named Joseph Grant.

1914: Judo ambassador and all around tough guy Mitsuyo Maeda arrives in Brazil. In the coming years, he’ll begin teaching the Gracie family judo techniques, planting the seeds for BJJ.

Early-mid 20th century: Vale Tudo competitions emerge in Brazil, and ultimately gain popularity. The Gracie family rises to prominence and enjoys success in these “everything allowed” contests.

1963: Gene Lebell fights Milo Savage in North America’s first televised mixed-rules fight.

1960s: Bruce Lee founds Jeet Kune Do and makes loads of movies. While these films raise awareness of the martial arts in general, they warp America’s perception of hand-to-hand combat for decades. Fighting becomes flashy kicks and punches–the antithesis of real unarmed combat–to much of the nation.

1976: Japanese pro wrestling star Antonio Inoki fights American boxing legend Muhammad Ali.

1985: Shooto is founded. The promotion holds its first professional event four years later.

September 1993: Pancrase holds its first event.

November 1993: The UFC holds its first event.

2000: The Unified Rules of MMA are developed.

2001: Zuffa purchases the UFC from the Semaphore Entertainment Group.

2005: The Ultimate Fighter ushers in an age of unparalleled growth and popularity for MMA.

2007: Zuffa purchases Pride, signaling the end of an era and the beginning of Zuffa’s complete domination of MMA, for better or for worse.

2010: James Toney invents the side-check kick.

2014: The UFC product begins to stagnate due to over-saturation, repetition, and a general lack of superstars. Hardcore fans begin to lose interest. Ratings tumble. The future is bleak but there might be reason for cautious optimism.

MMA History According to Zuffa

684 BCE: Ronda Rousey arrives from the future, invents the Olympic Games, and wins every event.

685 BCE-1960 CE: There is a great void in all martial arts. Boxers do not wrestle. Wrestlers do not box. Judo fighters don’t even know what a kick is. The art of fighting is mired in complete and total darkness. Innovation is nowhere to be found. Not a soul on earth has ever even begun to think about mixing styles.

1960s: Bruce Lee founds Jeet Kune Do and in doing so becomes the first man in human history to combine the tenets and techniques from different fighting systems.

1969: Dana White is born.

1973: Bruce Lee passes away and the concept of “mixed martial arts” dies along with him.

1987: Ronda Rousey is born. She armbars the doctor who pulls her from the womb.

1993: The UFC is founded and holds their first event. Something about a guy named Gracie.

1994-2000: The original owners of the UFC (those who shall not be named) nearly kill MMA by not introducing a single reform into the sport. Not only is the UFC “human cockfighting” under their tenure, but it’s worthy of every other unpleasantry in the entire universe.

2001: Zuffa purchases the UFC, rescuing it (and MMA by extension) right as it was about to disappear from the face of the earth once and for all. The UFC’s new owners introduce rules to the sport—a novel concept that had never, ever been tried in MMA until then.

Early 2000s: Dana White saves MMA. We’re not really clear on when this happened, just that it did.

2004: The UFC light heavyweight title materializes around the waist of Vitor Belfort after a session of prayer, but disappears just as quickly. Who are [censored], [censored], and [censored]?

2005: The UFC Light Heavyweight title is bestowed upon Chuck Liddell with divine blessing. Dana White invents The Ultimate Fighter, which ushers in an age of unparalleled growth and popularity.

2006: The UFC becomes bigger than the NFL.

2007: Zuffa purchases Pride, signaling the beginning of MMA’s new golden age analogous to the NFL’s golden age after the AFL-NFL merger.

2010: The UFC becomes bigger than soccer. Riots break out in the UK when Michael Bisping loses to Wanderlei Silva.

2011: Jon Jones faces his toughest test ever.

2012: Ronda Rousey signs with the UFC and instantly becomes the biggest star the sport has ever seen. Jon Jones faces his toughest test ever.

2013: Ronda Rousey travels back through time to invent the Olympic Games. She wins the UFC Women’s bantamweight championship the night of her return. Jon Jones faces his toughest test ever (seeing a pattern?).

2014: Nico Fertitta is offered a football scholarship from Notre Dame and addresses his haters. UFC Fight Pass goes live and immediately sets the standard for all digital distribution networks. Jon Jones faces his toughest test ever.

The Five Best MMA Fighters Who Only Fought Once


(Photo via Susumu Nagao)

By Mark Dorsey

One unfortunate aspect of MMA is that far too many fighters continue to compete long after they should have hung up the gloves. It’s hard to watch once-great athletes tarnish their legacies and put themselves at risk for dementia pugilistica. That’s why it’s so refreshing when fighters decide to retire at the right time. Even rarer are the ones who taste success just once before walking away. Here’s our tribute to a few legendary fighters who were literally one-and-done.

Rulon Gardner has faced more hardship throughout his life than most men could ever survive. As a kid, he was punctured in the abdomen by an arrow during show-and-tell at school. As an adult, Gardner survived crashing into a freezing river in his snowmobile after getting lost; he wasn’t rescued until almost two days later, by which point he had suffered hypothermia that would later cost him a toe. Gardner also survived a motorcycle crash and a small plane crash that plunged him into Lake Powell, Utah, and forced him to swim for an hour in order to reach safety.

Despite these tremendous survival stories which could earn any man a made-for-TV movie, Gardner is best known for wrestling the most dangerous man to ever don a wrestling singlet. In one of the biggest upsets in Olympic history, Gardner defeated Aleksandr Karelin in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. What made the upset so incredible was that Karelin, the three-time defending gold medalist, was undefeated for 13 years going into the match. Hell, Karelin hadn’t even given up a single point in six years. Yet somehow, Gardner, a pudgy farm boy from Wyoming, managed to shut down Karelin’s offense, making him an unlikely Olympic Gold Medalist.

After winning Bronze four years later at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Gardner left his wrestling shoes on the mat in a symbolic gesture of retirement. However, the competitive urge persisted and Gardner was convinced to compete in an MMA match at Pride Shockwave 2004. His opponent in that classic freak-fight was Hidehiko Yoshida, a judoka and a fellow Olympic gold medalist. Yoshida was a serious submission threat who entered the fight coming off a win over Mark Hunt and a draw against Royce Gracie. However, Gardner had been training with Bas Rutten which paid off, as he managed to win a rather boring unanimous decision victory over Yoshida. Gardner controlled the match and showed that he had a promising combination of raw skills and incredible strength. However, despite his potential as an MMA fighter, Gardner never competed in the sport again. In an interview with Ariel Helwani, Gardner admitted that he didn’t have the killer instinct for MMA because he didn’t really enjoy hitting people or getting hit.


(Photo via Susumu Nagao)

By Mark Dorsey

One unfortunate aspect of MMA is that far too many fighters continue to compete long after they should have hung up the gloves. It’s hard to watch once-great athletes tarnish their legacies and put themselves at risk for dementia pugilistica. That’s why it’s so refreshing when fighters decide to retire at the right time. Even rarer are the ones who taste success just once before walking away. Here’s our tribute to a few legendary fighters who were literally one-and-done.

Rulon Gardner has faced more hardship throughout his life than most men could ever survive. As a kid, he was punctured in the abdomen by an arrow during show-and-tell at school. As an adult, Gardner survived crashing into a freezing river in his snowmobile after getting lost; he wasn’t rescued until almost two days later, by which point he had suffered hypothermia that would later cost him a toe. Gardner also survived a motorcycle crash and a small plane crash that plunged him into Lake Powell, Utah, and forced him to swim for an hour in order to reach safety.

Despite these tremendous survival stories which could earn any man a made-for-TV movie, Gardner is best known for wrestling the most dangerous man to ever don a wrestling singlet. In one of the biggest upsets in Olympic history, Gardner defeated Aleksandr Karelin in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. What made the upset so incredible was that Karelin, the three-time defending gold medalist, was undefeated for 13 years going into the match. Hell, Karelin hadn’t even given up a single point in six years. Yet somehow, Gardner, a pudgy farm boy from Wyoming, managed to shut down Karelin’s offense, making him an unlikely Olympic Gold Medalist.

After winning Bronze four years later at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Gardner left his wrestling shoes on the mat in a symbolic gesture of retirement. However, the competitive urge persisted and Gardner was convinced to compete in an MMA match at Pride Shockwave 2004. His opponent in that classic freak-fight was Hidehiko Yoshida, a judoka and a fellow Olympic gold medalist. Yoshida was a serious submission threat who entered the fight coming off a win over Mark Hunt and a draw against Royce Gracie. However, Gardner had been training with Bas Rutten which paid off, as he managed to win a rather boring unanimous decision victory over Yoshida. Gardner controlled the match and showed that he had a promising combination of raw skills and incredible strength. However, despite his potential as an MMA fighter, Gardner never competed in the sport again. In an interview with Ariel Helwani, Gardner admitted that he didn’t have the killer instinct for MMA because he didn’t really enjoy hitting people or getting hit.

Pride offered Gardner $1 million to fight Fedor Emelianenko, but Gardner knew he would be outmatched, and the competitor in him refused to enter into anything half-assed. Although it would have been a great payday, it was probably a good decision considering the potential for brain damage.

Time hasn’t been particularly kind to Gardner since his foray into MMA. After ballooning to 474 pounds, Gardner appeared as a contestant on the NBC reality show The Biggest Loser where he quickly became a favorite to win the competition. However, after shedding 174 pounds, Gardner abruptly left the show over his desire to try and earn a third Olympic medal at the London Olympics. He feared that losing too much weight would rid him of too much strength and muscle to wrestle competitively. However, once off the show, Gardner failed to make Olympic weight and that — coupled with his declining abilities — cut short those ambitions. Later in 2012, it was announced that Gardner was in millions of dollars of debt and had filed for bankruptcy. It was an unfortunate development for a man who has given the combat world so much. However, at least he can go to his grave knowing he was an Olympic gold medalist and undefeated MMA fighter. Very few other human beings can make that claim.

Another Olympic wrestling gold medalist to successfully enter MMA for one match is Kenny Monday. At the 1998 Seoul games, Monday won the free-style gold in the 163-pound division against the Soviet Union’s Adlan Varaev. Although Monday was an accomplished wrestler and well-known in American wrestling, he was a newcomer on the world wrestling scene. Varaev was the defending world champion and favorite to win the Olympics. However, the U.S. had a strong legacy of 163-pound champions from which Monday could cull advice and experience; he also possessed the strength, skill and technique to be a serious contender. When Monday met Varaev in the finals, it was an incredibly close match in which Monday came from behind to capture the upset gold in overtime.

Monday continued to have success in international wrestling, winning gold and silver at the World Championships in 1989 and 1991, respectively. He also won a silver medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. When he competed at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic games, he finished sixth. It would be his last international competition.

Less than a year after retiring from wrestling, Monday agreed to fight in an MMA match against John Lewis at Extreme Fighting 4 in Des Moines, Iowa. John Lewis — who later went on to become one of the most high-profile MMA coaches ever and who is credited with first sparking the interest of the Fertitta brothers and Dana White in MMA — was undefeated (2-0-3) at the time he fought Monday. However, Monday handed Lewis his first loss via ground-and-pound near the end of round two after controlling him on the ground for most of the match.

Monday never fought in MMA again because he was too busy as a wrestling coach, but he didn’t completely leave the sport. In early 2013, he accepted a three-year position as wrestling coach for the Blackzilians, the prominent South Florida MMA team that has included such prominent UFC fighters as Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort, and Alistair Overeem. Monday had the raw athletic ability and wrestling pedigree to have lasting success in MMA, but he chose to dedicate himself to coaching. At the time when the prospects for monetary gain were few and far between in the sport, it was probably the right choice for his pocketbook and physical health.

The Five Best MMA Fighters Who Only Fought Once


(Photo via Susumu Nagao)

By Mark Dorsey

One unfortunate aspect of MMA is that far too many fighters continue to compete long after they should have hung up the gloves. It’s hard to watch once-great athletes tarnish their legacies and put themselves at risk for dementia pugilistica. That’s why it’s so refreshing when fighters decide to retire at the right time. Even rarer are the ones who taste success just once before walking away. Here’s our tribute to a few legendary fighters who were literally one-and-done.

Rulon Gardner has faced more hardship throughout his life than most men could ever survive. As a kid, he was punctured in the abdomen by an arrow during show-and-tell at school. As an adult, Gardner survived crashing into a freezing river in his snowmobile after getting lost; he wasn’t rescued until almost two days later, by which point he had suffered hypothermia that would later cost him a toe. Gardner also survived a motorcycle crash and a small plane crash that plunged him into Lake Powell, Utah, and forced him to swim for an hour in order to reach safety.

Despite these tremendous survival stories which could earn any man a made-for-TV movie, Gardner is best known for wrestling the most dangerous man to ever don a wrestling singlet. In one of the biggest upsets in Olympic history, Gardner defeated Aleksandr Karelin in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. What made the upset so incredible was that Karelin, the three-time defending gold medalist, was undefeated for 13 years going into the match. Hell, Karelin hadn’t even given up a single point in six years. Yet somehow, Gardner, a pudgy farm boy from Wyoming, managed to shut down Karelin’s offense, making him an unlikely Olympic Gold Medalist.

After winning Bronze four years later at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Gardner left his wrestling shoes on the mat in a symbolic gesture of retirement. However, the competitive urge persisted and Gardner was convinced to compete in an MMA match at Pride Shockwave 2004. His opponent in that classic freak-fight was Hidehiko Yoshida, a judoka and a fellow Olympic gold medalist. Yoshida was a serious submission threat who entered the fight coming off a win over Mark Hunt and a draw against Royce Gracie. However, Gardner had been training with Bas Rutten which paid off, as he managed to win a rather boring unanimous decision victory over Yoshida. Gardner controlled the match and showed that he had a promising combination of raw skills and incredible strength. However, despite his potential as an MMA fighter, Gardner never competed in the sport again. In an interview with Ariel Helwani, Gardner admitted that he didn’t have the killer instinct for MMA because he didn’t really enjoy hitting people or getting hit.


(Photo via Susumu Nagao)

By Mark Dorsey

One unfortunate aspect of MMA is that far too many fighters continue to compete long after they should have hung up the gloves. It’s hard to watch once-great athletes tarnish their legacies and put themselves at risk for dementia pugilistica. That’s why it’s so refreshing when fighters decide to retire at the right time. Even rarer are the ones who taste success just once before walking away. Here’s our tribute to a few legendary fighters who were literally one-and-done.

Rulon Gardner has faced more hardship throughout his life than most men could ever survive. As a kid, he was punctured in the abdomen by an arrow during show-and-tell at school. As an adult, Gardner survived crashing into a freezing river in his snowmobile after getting lost; he wasn’t rescued until almost two days later, by which point he had suffered hypothermia that would later cost him a toe. Gardner also survived a motorcycle crash and a small plane crash that plunged him into Lake Powell, Utah, and forced him to swim for an hour in order to reach safety.

Despite these tremendous survival stories which could earn any man a made-for-TV movie, Gardner is best known for wrestling the most dangerous man to ever don a wrestling singlet. In one of the biggest upsets in Olympic history, Gardner defeated Aleksandr Karelin in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. What made the upset so incredible was that Karelin, the three-time defending gold medalist, was undefeated for 13 years going into the match. Hell, Karelin hadn’t even given up a single point in six years. Yet somehow, Gardner, a pudgy farm boy from Wyoming, managed to shut down Karelin’s offense, making him an unlikely Olympic Gold Medalist.

After winning Bronze four years later at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Gardner left his wrestling shoes on the mat in a symbolic gesture of retirement. However, the competitive urge persisted and Gardner was convinced to compete in an MMA match at Pride Shockwave 2004. His opponent in that classic freak-fight was Hidehiko Yoshida, a judoka and a fellow Olympic gold medalist. Yoshida was a serious submission threat who entered the fight coming off a win over Mark Hunt and a draw against Royce Gracie. However, Gardner had been training with Bas Rutten which paid off, as he managed to win a rather boring unanimous decision victory over Yoshida. Gardner controlled the match and showed that he had a promising combination of raw skills and incredible strength. However, despite his potential as an MMA fighter, Gardner never competed in the sport again. In an interview with Ariel Helwani, Gardner admitted that he didn’t have the killer instinct for MMA because he didn’t really enjoy hitting people or getting hit.

Pride offered Gardner $1 million to fight Fedor Emelianenko, but Gardner knew he would be outmatched, and the competitor in him refused to enter into anything half-assed. Although it would have been a great payday, it was probably a good decision considering the potential for brain damage.

Time hasn’t been particularly kind to Gardner since his foray into MMA. After ballooning to 474 pounds, Gardner appeared as a contestant on the NBC reality show The Biggest Loser where he quickly became a favorite to win the competition. However, after shedding 174 pounds, Gardner abruptly left the show over his desire to try and earn a third Olympic medal at the London Olympics. He feared that losing too much weight would rid him of too much strength and muscle to wrestle competitively. However, once off the show, Gardner failed to make Olympic weight and that — coupled with his declining abilities — cut short those ambitions. Later in 2012, it was announced that Gardner was in millions of dollars of debt and had filed for bankruptcy. It was an unfortunate development for a man who has given the combat world so much. However, at least he can go to his grave knowing he was an Olympic gold medalist and undefeated MMA fighter. Very few other human beings can make that claim.

Another Olympic wrestling gold medalist to successfully enter MMA for one match is Kenny Monday. At the 1998 Seoul games, Monday won the free-style gold in the 163-pound division against the Soviet Union’s Adlan Varaev. Although Monday was an accomplished wrestler and well-known in American wrestling, he was a newcomer on the world wrestling scene. Varaev was the defending world champion and favorite to win the Olympics. However, the U.S. had a strong legacy of 163-pound champions from which Monday could cull advice and experience; he also possessed the strength, skill and technique to be a serious contender. When Monday met Varaev in the finals, it was an incredibly close match in which Monday came from behind to capture the upset gold in overtime.

Monday continued to have success in international wrestling, winning gold and silver at the World Championships in 1989 and 1991, respectively. He also won a silver medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. When he competed at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic games, he finished sixth. It would be his last international competition.

Less than a year after retiring from wrestling, Monday agreed to fight in an MMA match against John Lewis at Extreme Fighting 4 in Des Moines, Iowa. John Lewis — who later went on to become one of the most high-profile MMA coaches ever and who is credited with first sparking the interest of the Fertitta brothers and Dana White in MMA — was undefeated (2-0-3) at the time he fought Monday. However, Monday handed Lewis his first loss via ground-and-pound near the end of round two after controlling him on the ground for most of the match.

Monday never fought in MMA again because he was too busy as a wrestling coach, but he didn’t completely leave the sport. In early 2013, he accepted a three-year position as wrestling coach for the Blackzilians, the prominent South Florida MMA team that has included such prominent UFC fighters as Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort, and Alistair Overeem. Monday had the raw athletic ability and wrestling pedigree to have lasting success in MMA, but he chose to dedicate himself to coaching. At the time when the prospects for monetary gain were few and far between in the sport, it was probably the right choice for his pocketbook and physical health.

Reliving Chuck Wepner vs. Andre the Giant: The Great American Freakshow We Somehow Forgot


(Wepner was tossed out of the ring in the third round, and lost the fight by count-out. Seems legit. Video of the fight is available after the jump.)

If you happen to be a connoisseur of MMA freak show bouts, it’s likely that you recognize June 25, 1976 as the day that “The Greatest of All Time” Muhammad Ali took on Japanese wrestling legend Antonio Inoki in a mixed rules bout. The fight itself may have been an unwatchable display of bizarre kicks from Inoki – who was only allowed to kick if one of his knees was touching the mat – but it’s remembered as one of our sport’s first genuine freak show bouts.

Yet often forgotten by even the most die-hard fight fans among us is that the undercard for Ali vs. Inoki contained a match between Chuck Wepner (the boxer/liquor salesman whose bout against Ali served as the inspiration for the Rocky series) and Andre the Giant broadcast live from Shea Stadium. Before we go any further: Yes, you read that last sentence correctly, and yes, we’ll have video evidence of this after the jump.

By 1976, Andre the Giant had established himself as an unstoppable juggernaut in professional wrestling, to the point that simply getting in a few good shots in a losing effort against him could put another wrestler over. He may not have been professional wrestling’s first “unbeatable giant” character, but he was certainly the most successful and popular portrayal of it. Naturally, when Vince McMahon Sr. faced the dilemma of finding an opponent for the division killer, he got the idea of having him defeat a real fighter. Chuck Wepner – who coincidentally was considering becoming a professional wrestler by this point in his career – was the ideal opponent.


(Wepner was tossed out of the ring in the third round, and lost the fight by count-out. Seems legit. Video of the fight is available after the jump.)

If you happen to be a connoisseur of MMA freak show bouts, it’s likely that you recognize June 25, 1976 as the day that “The Greatest of All Time” Muhammad Ali took on Japanese wrestling legend Antonio Inoki in a mixed rules bout. The fight itself may have been an unwatchable display of bizarre kicks from Inoki – who was only allowed to kick if one of his knees was touching the mat – but it’s remembered as one of our sport’s first genuine freak show bouts.

Yet often forgotten by even the most die-hard fight fans among us is that the undercard for Ali vs. Inoki contained a match between Chuck Wepner (the boxer/liquor salesman whose bout against Ali served as the inspiration for the Rocky series) and Andre the Giant broadcast live from Shea Stadium. Before we go any further: Yes, you read that last sentence correctly, and yes, we’ll have video evidence of this after the jump.

By 1976, Andre the Giant had established himself as an unstoppable juggernaut in professional wrestling, to the point that simply getting in a few good shots in a losing effort against him could put another wrestler over. He may not have been professional wrestling’s first “unbeatable giant” character, but he was certainly the most successful and popular portrayal of it. Naturally, when Vince McMahon Sr. faced the dilemma of finding an opponent for the division killer, he got the idea of having him defeat a real fighter. Chuck Wepner – who coincidentally was considering becoming a professional wrestler by this point in his career – was the ideal opponent.

As you probably figured out by reading that last paragraph, the fight itself was a blatant work. A loss to Wepner would have killed Andre the Giant’s “unbeatable” aura, and probably his career in general. There was absolutely no way that McMahon was going to let one of his biggest draws fizzle out while fans were still willing to pay to watch him (Ironically, McMahon Jr. would allow this to happen twenty years later). Meanwhile, a loss would do nothing to Wepner’s reputation; if you’re famous for losing to Muhammad Ali, a loss to The Eighth Wonder of the World isn’t exactly going to bury you.

Perhaps the worked shoot nature of the “fight” is why Wepner vs. Andre the Giant has been all but forgotten by fight fans, while Ali vs. Inoki is still regarded as one of the first mainstream MMA bouts. The match may have fooled fans from an era that still sanctioned and licensed professional wrestling as if it were a legitimate competition, but even the dimmest fight fans of today can tell that something isn’t quite right when watching the video. From professional wrestling matches filling out the rest of the undercard, to a member of the McMahon family providing the commentary, to Gorilla Monsoon being Andre the Giant’s cornerman, to the post-fight brawl in the ring, there are way too many obvious signs that the action wasn’t exactly 100% organic. The fact that Chuck Wepner has recently opened up about the “entertainment” aspect of the fight doesn’t exactly help guard the illusion, either.

Interestingly enough, the most “fake” parts of the bout – from what appears to be a botched atomic drop to Andre throwing Wepner over the top rope – were possibly the only unscripted events to take place that evening. Rumor has it that by the third round, Wepner decided he’d throw his most powerful punches at Andre the Giant. Andre – who had a reputation for shooting on wrestlers who he felt were working too stiff with him -decided that he would get behind Wepner and pick him up, just to demonstrate that he could seriously hurt Wepner if he wanted to (he allegedly did the same thing to a young Hulk Hogan). When Wepner didn’t take the hint, Andre decided to skip to the planned finish right then and there – Wepner’s compliance be damned.

For better or for worse, Chuck Wepner vs. Andre the Giant was one of the first mainstream American mixed rules bouts, which took place thirty-seven years ago today. Whether or not you can still sit through it today depends on whether or not you appreciate oldschool professional wrestling, but odds are good that if you’re a cinema buff, you have an appreciation for Stallone’s recreation of it.

@SethFalvo

On This Day in MMA History: Carina Damm, The Amelia Earhart of WMMA Steroid Busts

“On This Day in MMA History” pays tribute to some of the more bizarre and infamous news stories of MMA’s past. The following article was originally published on May 15th, 2008, five years ago today.

Carina Damm Proves That Steroid Controversies Aren’t Just For Men Anymore

It’s almost always a good thing to be the first woman to do something. That’s because usually, if a woman hasn’t done that thing yet, it means that it’s either really hard or men have been real jerks about it and kept women out like ten-year-olds with a clubhouse. Well, Brazilian Carina Damm just etched her name in the record books by becoming the first female MMA figher to test positive for steroids. That is not the clubhouse you want to be hanging out in. Not unless you love powerlifting and back acne.

Sherdog reported today that Damm tested positive for Nandrolone (that’s right, the same thing Sean Sherk tested positive for) after her April 3 victory over Sophie Bagherdai at Femme Fatale Fighting 4 in Los Angeles. This news comes at a particularly bad time for Damm, since she was recently signed to take on Debi Purcell on an Elite XC card on June 27. Purcell seemed annoyed, though not surprised by the news.

“It was obvious she was doing it [steroids], but I was just going to out-cardio and out-muscle her anyways. I’ve been lifting for my whole life, everyday for I don’t know how many years. People have accused me of doing steroids because I have muscles, which isn’t fair. But you can’t go have a normal body and two months later be huge.”

“On This Day in MMA History” pays tribute to some of the more bizarre and infamous news stories of MMA’s past. The following article was originally published on May 15th, 2008, five years ago today.

Carina Damm Proves That Steroid Controversies Aren’t Just For Men Anymore

It’s almost always a good thing to be the first woman to do something. That’s because usually, if a woman hasn’t done that thing yet, it means that it’s either really hard or men have been real jerks about it and kept women out like ten-year-olds with a clubhouse. Well, Brazilian Carina Damm just etched her name in the record books by becoming the first female MMA figher to test positive for steroids. That is not the clubhouse you want to be hanging out in. Not unless you love powerlifting and back acne.

Sherdog reported today that Damm tested positive for Nandrolone (that’s right, the same thing Sean Sherk tested positive for) after her April 3 victory over Sophie Bagherdai at Femme Fatale Fighting 4 in Los Angeles. This news comes at a particularly bad time for Damm, since she was recently signed to take on Debi Purcell on an Elite XC card on June 27. Purcell seemed annoyed, though not surprised by the news.

“It was obvious she was doing it [steroids], but I was just going to out-cardio and out-muscle her anyways. I’ve been lifting for my whole life, everyday for I don’t know how many years. People have accused me of doing steroids because I have muscles, which isn’t fair. But you can’t go have a normal body and two months later be huge.”

If you’re wondering whether Damm might be a victim of the faulty testing procedures that Sherk is considering suing the CSAC over…there’s something you should know. The “normal” level of Nandrolone in a person is 2 ng/mL. An athlete participating in “vigorous activity” can legally get away with 6 ng/mL. When Sherk tested positive, it was with 12 ng/mL in his system. Carina Damm tested at 37.9 ng/mL. Now that’s how you fail a steroid test, people.

Am I the only one thinking this may help Sean Sherk? A female fighter fails the test with three times the Nandrolone levels that he had, that makes you wonder what a positive test really looks like. Then again, it could just be because those Brazilians don’t do anything half-ass.