Willie Williams (April 14, 1951 – June 8, 2019) was an American

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

ka,

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

and

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

Career

In 1975, Willie Williams participated in

Mas Oyama , more commonly known as Mas Oyama, was a Zainichi Korean karate master who founded Kyokushin Karate, considered the first and most influential style of full contact karate. Early life Mas Oyama was born as Choi Yeong-eui () in Kintei, Kore ...

's 1st World Full-Contact Karate Open Championships tournament as part of the U.S. team coached by Tadashi Nakamura and Shigeru Oyama. He lost to Howard Collins of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in the third round by decision. Four years later, in 1979, he took part in the 2nd World Open Championships. That year, around 160 fighters from all over the world entered this open weight class tournament. Williams was able to battle his way through to the semifinals, where he was defeated by Keiji Sanpei. He made his third appearance at the 3rd World Open Championships in 1984, making it to the final 32. In 1980, Williams fought Japan's top pro-wrestling star

Antonio Inoki (born ; 20 February 1943 – 1 October 2022) was a Japanese professional wrestler, Glossary of professional wrestling terms#school, professional wrestling trainer, martial arts, martial artist, politician, and Promoter (entertainment), promot ...

for the World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship in Tokyo. The bout ended in a draw after both competitors repeatedly fell out of the ring. Although the match was worked, it is seen as a precursor to modern mixed martial arts. William's fight against Inoki was voted as the top professional fighting match in Japan in the 20th century in 2003 by professional Japanese fight analysts. Williams debuted in March 1992 in the combat sport promotion Fighting Network RINGS in Japan. He worked with the organization until 1996. On January 4, 1997, nearly 17 years after his first match against Antonio Inoki, the two would have a rematch with Inoki as the winner. From 1999 to 2000, Williams worked for Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling. He retired from professional wrestling in 2000. Williams died on June 8, 2019, at the age of 68.

Titles

* 3rd World Open Karate Tournament 1984 (IKO) - Final 32 * 2nd World Open Karate Tournament 1979 (IKO) - 3rd Place

Mixed martial arts record

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Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

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Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

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Akira Maeda (born Go Il-myeong (Hangul: 고일명, Hanja: 高日明), January 24, 1959) is a Japanese mixed martial arts promoter, writer and retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. Maeda was also known by the ring name Kwik-kik-Lee durin ...

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Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture and the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,098,335 in 539,698 households, making it the List of cities in Japan, twelfth most populated city in Japan. ...

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Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

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Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

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Volk Han Magomedkhan Amanulayevich Gamzatkhanov (; born 15 April 1961), is a Russian retired mixed martial artist, professional wrestler, sambo wrestler and former military officer of Avar descent. Gamzatkhanov is better known by his ringname Volk Han ...

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Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has b ...

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Mitsuya Nagai , better known as , is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist and kickboxer. A professional MMA competitor from 1991 until 2013, he fought the majority of his career in Fighting Network RINGS. Once a student of legend ...

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Peter Smit '' Peter "The Hurricane" Smit (December 24, 1961 – August 15, 2005) was a Dutch martial artist, Retrieved 2013-06-03 who competed in kyokushin karate, kickboxing and Muay Thai., Retrieved 2013-06-04. Biography Smit started training in ...

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Yokohama, Japan is the second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a population of 3.7 million in 2023. It lies on Tokyo B ...

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Karate record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Willie American male mixed martial artists Heavyweight mixed martial artists American male karateka Mixed martial artists utilizing Kyokushin kaikan 1951 births 2019 deaths People from Washington, North Carolina Mixed martial artists from North Carolina 20th-century American sportsmen