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UFC 1
''The Ultimate Fighting Championship'' (later renamed ''UFC 1: The Beginning'') was the first mixed martial arts event by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), held at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado, United States, on November 12, 1993. The event was broadcast live on pay-per-view and later released on home video. The event was the lowest profile by the contemporary standards. The venue was less than half-packed, and the grand prize of the tournament was as big as a regular sparring partner's biannual salary. Major martial arts observers and columnists did not bother to show up; the press neglected the event, and '' Black Belt'' mentioned it only several months later. Big-name fighters turned down the offers to participate or to make a guest appearance in the audience. The event pioneered the interstylistic match-ups between the practitioners of different martial arts, and set the pattern for the future sporting events of the kind. UFC 1 would also be the f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor (company), Endeavor Group Holdings. The largest MMA promotion in the world, the UFC has over List of current UFC fighters, 578 fighters contracted that fight across 11 Weight class, weight divisions (eight men's and three women's). The organization produces events worldwide and abides by the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. , it had held List of UFC events, over 700 events. Dana White has been its president since 2001 and CEO since 2023. Under White's stewardship, it has grown into a global multi-billion-dollar enterprise. The UFC was founded by businessman Art Davie and Brazilian martial artist Rorion Gracie, and the UFC 1, first event was held in 1993 at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado. The purpose of the UFC's early compet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Torrance, California
Torrance is a coastal city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the metropolitan area. A small section of the city, , abuts the Pacific Ocean. Torrance has a moderate year-round climate with average rainfall of per year.City of Torrance Website: About Torrance () Retrieved April 7, 2009 Torrance was incorporated in 1921, and at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census had a population of 147,067 residents. Torrance has a beachfront and 30 parks located around the city. It is also the birthplace of the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO). History Pre-colonial era For tho ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gene LeBell
Ivan Gene LeBell (October 9, 1932 – August 9, 2022) was an American actor, judoka, stuntman and professional wrestler. Nicknamed "Judo Gene" and "The Godfather of Grappling", he is credited with popularizing grappling in professional fighting circles, serving as a precursor to modern mixed martial arts. He worked on over 1,000 films and TV shows and authored 12 books. Early life Ivan Gene LeBell was born in Los Angeles, California. He started training in catch wrestling and boxing from his early childhood, influenced by his mother, "Red Head" Aileen Eaton, a promoter of both sports who owned the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, Thomas Nilsson, ''A Conversation with "The Toughest Man Alive": "Judo" Gene LeBell Has Seen and Done It All in a 50-Year Martial Arts Career'', Black Belt magazine, February 1999 and who was the first woman to be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. LeBell took up catch wrestling under Ed "Strangler" Lewis at age 7, and later moved ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Dillman
George Dillman (born November 23, 1942, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a controversial American martial arts instructor, who popularized the use of techniques such as pressure points (also known in Japan as kyūsho jutsu (急所術)) among the United States' martial arts practitioners. Dillman is a member of '' Black Belt'' magazine's Hall of Fame, and in 1997 was named ''Black Belt Magazine''s "Martial Arts Instructor of the Year". For 30 years, he ran the Northeast Karate Championships. Dillman also conducts martial arts training seminars at the former Muhammad Ali training camp at Deer Lake, Pennsylvania. Dillman has been subject to scrutiny stemming from the fact that many of his most famous techniques don't work, especially those involving alleged touchless chi manipulation. Dillman calls his style Ryukyu kempo karate. Dillman began martial arts training in 1961 with Harry G. Smith. He went on to study with Daniel K. Pai, Robert Trias, Seiyu Oyata, Hohan Soken, Wally J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hee Il Cho
__NOTOC__ Cho Hee-il (born October 13, 1940) is a prominent Korean-American master of taekwondo, holding the rank of 9th '' dan'' in the martial art.Action International Martial Arts Association: Grandmaster Hee Il Cho Retrieved on 27 January 2010. He has written 11 martial art books, produced 70 martial art training videos, and has appeared on more than 70 martial arts magazine covers. Cho won several national and international competitions as a taekwondo competitor, and has appeared in several films, including '' Fight to Win'', '' Bes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bart Vale
Bart Vale (born May 4, 1957) is an American former kickboxer, mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. He is known for his "old school" American martial arts look, consisting of a mustache, mullet and American flag trunks. Career Bart Vale began his martial arts training in 1970 with kenpo. He later traveled to Japan where he was a professional wrestler in the Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi (a shoot-style professional wrestling organization) champion for close to three years. In Japan, he also studied a number of other styles and coined the term "shootfighting", a martial art that combines striking and grappling. He co-founded the International Shootfighting Association and in 1992, began the Shootfighting World Championships. Vale began participating in events for Fighting Network Rings in March 1993. He appeared in five matches for Rings, four of which took place during the organization's pro wrestling period. Rings began promoting mixed martial arts bouts rather than ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maurice Smith (kickboxer)
Maurice Smith (born December 13, 1961) is a retired American kickboxer and mixed martial artist. In kickboxing, he held the WKC (World Kickboxing Council) world light heavyweight championship, the WKA (World Kickboxing Association) world heavyweight championship, and the ISKA (International Sport Karate Association) world heavyweight championship. In mixed martial arts, he held the Heavyweight championship in Battlecade Extreme Fighting and the UFC, and became a member of the UFC Hall of Fame in 2017. A professional competitor since 1980, Smith has formerly competed in kickboxing for the companies All Japan Enterprise and K-1, Pancrase, RINGS, PRIDE, Strikeforce, International Fight League and RFA. Career Raised in Seattle, Washington, Smith got into martial arts at the age of 13 after watching Bruce Lee's '' Chinese Connection'', and having had to retreat from a fight. He trained in karate, kung fu, and taekwondo, until he found the sport of kickboxing at age 18. Smith atte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stan Longinidis
Stan "The Man" Longinidis (born 25 June 1965) is an Australian retired heavyweight kickboxer and 8-time world kickboxing champion. Born in Melbourne of Greek ethnicity, Longinidis is one of the few fighters to win world titles in four different styles of kickboxing competition: international rules, Oriental rules, full contact and Muay Thai. He holds notable victories over Branko Cikatić, Adam Watt, Peter Graham, Musashi and Dennis Alexio. He is also an actor and motivational speaker. Biography 1983-1989: Early career Stan Longinidis began practicing martial arts in 1982 after being inspired by watching a martial artist defeat five opponents in a night club brawl. His kickboxing career commenced in 1983, and he had won two amateur titles when he challenged Santiago Garza for the WKA World Light Heavyweight Championship in 1987. Despite the contest ending in a draw, Longinidis had displayed such potential that he was invited to train full-time at the prestigious Jet Ce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rick Roufus
Rick John Roufus (born June 3, 1966) is a retired American kickboxer. He has also competed professionally in boxing and mixed martial arts. An accomplished professional fighter throughout his competitive career, Roufus has won multiple world championships across the globe in several weight classes. He was world champion as a super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight. Roufus held titles for all the major kickboxing associations worldwide (PKA, IKF, ISKA, FFKA and KICK), and is known for his boxing skills and powerful kicks. Roufus is the Global Director of Fighter Development for PKA Worldwide. In 2012 he was inducted into the World Kickboxing League Hall of Fame. Biography and career Rick Roufus began his martial arts practice at the age of 5 under the tutelage of his father Pat J. Roufus, a renowned PKA referee, who had graduated as a black belt in 1973 by Dukan Yun. Rick learned taekwondo from his father. He quickly rose up the national karate points circuit and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean-Yves Thériault (kickboxer)
Jean-Yves Thériault is a Canadian kickboxer, kickboxing trainer, and author. Biography Jean-Yves Thériault was born in Paquetville, New Brunswick, Canada. He was the fifth of six sons. Thériault began his martial arts training in 1972 at age 17, achieving blue belt status in Jujutsu before becoming interested in Karate and Full Contact Karate a few years later. He won his first Full Contact Karate competition in 1976 after only six months of training under the direction of John Therien (who now holds Hanshi degree in Ju-Jitsu), and subsequently became Canadian middleweight kickboxing champion two and a half years later. Kelly 2006 In 1980 he won the PKA Middleweight World title (Full-contact karate), and held the championship for a record of 15 years. He has also won world titles in both the ISKA and PKC associations. During the peak of his career, Thériault held only a yellow belt in Karate. He was referred to as "The Iceman," a nickname given to him by Rodney Batiste ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benny Urquidez
Benny Urquidez (born June 20, 1952) is an American former professional kickboxer, martial arts choreographer and actor. Nicknamed "The Jet", Urquidez was a non-contact karate competitor who later pioneered full-contact fighting in the United States. He made the transition from point to full-contact karate in 1974, the year of its inception in the US, frequently fighting in bouts where the rules were ambiguous and contrasts in styles were dramatic. Urquidez is also known for once holding the rare achievement of six world titles in five different weight divisions, and remained largely undefeated in his 27-year career. His only loss came in a Muay Thai match which was shrouded in controversy, as Urquidez had only agreed to a no-decision exhibition, a clause that was ignored when the fight was over. Between 1974 and 1993, he amassed a documented professional record of 49–1–1 (win-loss-draw) with 35 knockouts and two controversial no-contests, although he is also supposed to hav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dennis Alexio
Dennis Alexio (born Dennis Raymond Dick; Tony Wade, '' Daily Republic'' (October 25, 2019) March 12, 1959) is an American former professional kickboxer and actor who competed in the , cruiserweight and |
