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Ten people were featured in the 1st UFC.
With the 20th anniversary coming up, here are pictures, weblinks, interviews and updates from the 10 competitors of the first UFC. Basic biographies from wikipedia, with the latest updates on how they are.
Feel free to contribute and will update.
Gerard Gordeau
Teila Tuli
Kevin Rosier
Gerard Gordeau def. Teila Tuli TKO (head kick) 0:26
Gerard Gordeau
At the time:
Gerard Gordeau (born March 30, 1959) is a retired Dutch savateur, karateka, and mixed martial artist. He is the 1991 World Champion Savate and holder of the Dutch Champion Kyokushin Karate title for 8 consecutive years, but foremost known internationally for his fight against Teila Tuli in the first televised Ultimate Fighting Championship bout on 12 November 1993. To Japanese prowrestling fans he is known as "the hired body guard" for the famous 1.4 Incident which occurred on January fourth, 1999 at the Tokyo Dome, Naoya Ogawa versus Shinya Hashimoto. Gordeau was in the corner of Ogawa representing UFO (Universal Fighting Organization), Ogawa turned the bout into a shoot match brutally striking Hashimoto who had no idea what was going on.
Last Seen : Gordeau had an interview recently for dutch tv
http://www.fightstartv.com/videos/g...naaid-en-vonden-het-niet-lekker-its-showtime/
Teila Tuli
Weighing nearly 200 kg (440 lb), he was one of the largest wrestlers in sumo. In March 1988, he was promoted to the third highest makushita division, and became the first foreign born wrestler to ever win the championship in that division.
After leaving sumo, he competed in the first bout of the UFC 1 in November 1993, held in Denver, Colorado. It was shown on pay-per-view. Despite heavily outweighing his opponent, he lost to Gerard Gordeau, the match being stopped after Tuli was kicked in the face causing the loss of a tooth. This was Tuli's only MMA fight. The match has been described as one of the top five David and Goliath match-ups in MMA history.
Tuli, credited as Taylor Wily, had a role in the comedy film Forgetting Sarah Marshall as a hotel worker who befriended the main character Jason Segel. He also has a recurring role on the television series Hawaii Five-0. Wily made a cameo on the 20th edition of The Amazing Race, and handed out clues to racing contestants.
Kevin Rosier def. Zane Frazier TKO (punches) 4:20
Kevin Rosier
http://www.ikfkickboxing.com/KevinRosier.htm
Kevin Rosier (born January 6, 1962) is an American former kickboxer, boxer and mixed martial artist. He had much success as a kickboxer, winning a number of titles, but did not transition particularly well into the world of boxing and was mostly seen as a journeyman fighter. Notably, he also took part at the inaugural Ultimate Fighting Championship event in 1993 where he reached the semi-finals.
Latest update ... 12-13-10
Kevin contacted IKF Preisdent Steve Fossum to update him of his current condition. He was in the Veterans Hospital in Buffalo NY awaiting Heart Surgery. As a Veteran, he was also dealing with PSD.
His passion for the sport is still as strong as ever. So strong that he expressed to Fossum of his interest to fight again. Fossum asked him Why? NOT because Fossum didn't think he would do well, but instead, as Fossum explained,
"With a background and history such as Kevin's, What does he have to prove to ANYONE? Kevin was one of the Pioneers of this sport that EVERYONE should look up to. EVERYONE! He not only defended his country for us but he defended his WKA Title something like 8-9 times. VERY FEW Fighters go out of their way to not only defend their titles today, but he also put up the money to promote the event so he could keep fighting. He didn't just bring in bums to fight either. He always brought in the top challengers to continue to prove himself over and over again to his peers. Champions like Kevin don't have to prove anything more to ANYONE! He has already 'Walked the Walk' and made his place in the history of this sport."
Zane Frazier
http://www.spreaker.com/user/themmasubway/ufc_1_9_vet_zane_frazier_interview_mp3_1
2010 pod cast
Frazier holds a 4th degree black belt in American Kenpo Karate and was the 4x international Karate champion. He was also the WKF Super Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion.
In 1993, he compteted at UFC 1, the very first mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He reportedly earned his place in the tournament by beating up Frank Dux in a street fight. In the quarterfinal, he faced kickboxer Kevin Rosier in what turned out to be a sloppy brawl. The match ended with Rosier clubbing Frazier to the floor with a series of blows to the back of the head, then stomping on him before Frazier's corner threw in the towel. Frazier suffered respiratory failure and was rushed to hospital after the fight.
He returned to mixed martial arts almost two years later when he fought at Shooto: Vale Tudo Perception in Tokyo, Japan in September 1995. He knocked out "Kendo Nagasaki" 36 seconds into the fight. He then returned to the UFC in 1996 at UFC 9 and was TKO'd by Cal Worsham three minutes into the fight. In his next fight against Sidney Goncalves Freitas in Brazil, he was knocked out after falling from the ring and hitting his head on the floor.
After this, he continued to fight throughout the 1990s and 2000s and recorded mostly losses. His final fight came in January 2008 and he was knocked out by Richard Blake.
Royce Gracie def. Art Jimmerson submission (position) 2:18
Royce
https://twitter.com/realroyce
Royce is Royce. He is still thought of by many as the father of the UFC and is a name across the world to this day.
Art
Art Jimmerson competed at super middleweight, light heavyweight, cruiserweight and heavyweight boxing. As an amateur, Jimmerson was the 1983 National Golden Gloves Middleweight champion. He finished his boxing career in 2002, with a record of 33–18.
In November 1993, Jimmerson competed at the very first UFC competition, UFC 1. He fought Royce Gracie while wearing only one boxing glove, earning the nickname Art 'One Glove' Jimmerson in the process. Since there were no gloves in the first UFC, Art didn't want to get his jab hand hurt, so he wore a boxing glove in the match on his left hand.
Jimmerson is now the head boxing coach at the UFC GYM in Torrance, CA.
Jimmerson has expressed an interest in fighting former YouTube sensation and UFC fighter, Kimbo Slice, in a boxing match.
Ken Shamrock def. Patrick Smith submission (heel hook) 1:49
Ken Shamrock
Another true fuckin legend
Ken is Ken. Like Royce, he will always be one of the biggest names to have come out of that time.
Pat Smith
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1103980-brandon-saling-and-the-5-worst-human-beings-in-mma/page/4
Not a good story. Got done for sexual assault charges on a child.
Alternate bout
Jason DeLucia def. Trent Jenkins
Jason DeLucia
http://jasondelucia.com/
http://www.mmaopinion.co.uk/2012/09...ew-with-ufc-1-and-2-competitor-jason-delucia/
DeLucia practiced the Five Animals style of Kung Fu, Aikido and, later in his MMA career, Gracie Jiu Jitsu (mostly in his Pancrase fights). He is remembered by UFC enthusiasts for being among the first fighters to perform in early UFC tournaments. In UFC 2: No way out, DeLucia fought Royce Gracie and lost via armbar submission. After DeLucia tapped out, Gracie did not let go of the armbar and the commentator claimed his elbow had popped. However, DeLucia denied this in a Sherdog.com forum, saying it was just badly bent.
Trent Jenkins
http://uk.ufc.com/fighter/Trent-Jenkins
Trent is a ghost apparently. No one has seen him online or video since the turn of the century.
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