Account of The Rickson Gracie Vs. Yoji Anjo Fight

[raty tat tat]

I remember hearing of this fight:
A Blow By Blow Account Of The Rickson Gracie vs Yoji Anjo Closed Door Fight (bjjee.com)
Japanese pro wrestling superstar Nobuhiko Takada had been calling out the legendary Brazilian fighter Rickson Gracie, who did not even acknowledge him.

Yoji Anjo, a famous pro-wrestler back in Japan, headed down to LA to challenge Rickson Gracie to a fight. Yoji showed up at the academy while Rockson (Rickson’s eldest son, RIP) was there, asking where Rickson was, and refusing to leave if Rickson did not fight him. The students called called Rickson who was at home, and Rickson arrived soon after. There were tons of Japanese reporters outside, and Rickson did not allow them inside his academy.

Sounds like Rickson has a tape of it. I wonder if it will ever be released.

 

[Coconutwater]

Yeah, old news, Yoji pretty much sucked anyway. It’s not like Coleman or Frye stormed Rickson’s. I doubt Rickson would be so gung ho if it was them.

 

[ChickenBrother]

Yeah, old news, Yoji pretty much sucked anyway. It’s not like Coleman or Frye stormed Rickson’s. I doubt Rickson would be so gung ho if it was them.

LOL respect to the man for going to 15 min decision vs. prime Tank Abbott but yeah, he went 0-5-1 in MMA.

 

[Kforcer]

LOL respect to the man for going to 15 min decision vs. prime Tank Abbott but yeah, he went 0-5-1 in MMA.

To his credit, I asked Hiromitsu Kanehara who the main teacher was in the UWFi and he said it was Anjo. I've heard a few people say that. So as far as that goes, he did a good job, helping to turn out guys like Sakuraba, Tamura and Kanehara himself.

 

[Coconutwater]

To his credit, I asked Hiromitsu Kanehara who the main teacher was in the UWFi and he said it was Anjo. I've heard a few people say that. So as far as that goes, he did a good job, helping to turn out guys like Sakuraba, Tamura and Kanehara himself.

He’s knowledgeable but not necessarily a good competitor.

 

[Kforcer]

He’s knowledgeable but necessarily a good competitor.

Yep, seems to be the case.

 

[JacJeanFinger]

If you're familiar with "Joe tomorrow" the most famous and influential graphic novel that came out during the counterculture era in Japan, Joe yabuki visited Wolf Kanagushi in the backstage where he humiliated him. They ended up exchanging fists in front of the media crowd and it was Joe Yabuki's strategy to set up a fight with the champ to promote his barely recognized and unlicensed gym.

Anjo played Joe Yabuki in L.A. by trying to cause some confrontational scenes at this bjj dojo involving rickson and his associates. He didnt mean to fight until one guy taps out but to make some noise so the gracies could not ignore UWFi any more.

Too bad rickson didn't grow up watching Japanese anime like Peruvians of the same generation would've. The gracie family doesn't understand drama or showbiz.

 

[Kforcer]

If you're familiar with "Joe tomorrow" the most famous and influential graphic novel that came out during the counterculture era in Japan, Joe yabuki visited Wolf Kanagushi in the backstage where he humiliated him. They ended up exchanging fists in front of the media crowd and it was Joe Yabuki's strategy to set up a fight with the champ to promote his barely recognized and unlicensed gym.

Anjo played Joe Yabuki in L.A. by trying to cause some confrontational scenes at this bjj dojo involving rickson and his associates. He didnt mean to fight until one guy taps out but to make some noise so the gracies could not ignore UWFi any more.

Too bad rickson didn't grow up watching Japanese anime like Peruvians of the same generation would've. The gracie family doesn't understand drama or showbiz.

Sounds very similar to Garouden.

 

[Coconutwater]

If you're familiar with "Joe tomorrow" the most famous and influential graphic novel that came out during the counterculture era in Japan, Joe yabuki visited Wolf Kanagushi in the backstage where he humiliated him. They ended up exchanging fists in front of the media crowd and it was Joe Yabuki's strategy to set up a fight with the champ to promote his barely recognized and unlicensed gym.

Anjo played Joe Yabuki in L.A. by trying to cause some confrontational scenes at this bjj dojo involving rickson and his associates. He didnt mean to fight until one guy taps out but to make some noise so the gracies could not ignore UWFi any more.

Too bad rickson didn't grow up watching Japanese anime like Peruvians of the same generation would've. The gracie family doesn't understand drama or showbiz.

I understand how this could have been the case, but I can see the annoyance of Rickson…

EVERYONE knew and respected Rickson’s achievements. What sucks is when a NON-CHAMPION tries to make a name for themself simply by raising hell or starting a ruckus instead of earning their stripes through legit competition.

I know theater is part of fake wrestling, but Yoji was naive to think you can storm a dojo and challenge someone without fireworks happening.

 

[JacJeanFinger]

>>EVERYONE knew and respected Rickson’s achievements.

In 1994? I doubt it. Unless you were from the Brazilian martial art community or you were Craig Kukuk or Chuck Norris, you would've barely had a clear idea of how good he actually was.

Until Anjo got his big mouth ass kicked in California, rickson's invincibility in the world media was supported by just 2 statements of famous people. 1) Royce "my brother is 10 times stronger blah blah" 2) satoru sayama "rickson has a record of four hundred wins blah blah" both of which were neglectable for a realist. They didn't have Mundial/PanAm championships or ADCC back then (rickson didnt participate in any of them regardless) and all rickson'd ever proved to the world was he could dominate someone with no valetudo experience.

>> Yoji was naive to think you can storm a dojo and challenge someone without fireworks happening.

It wasn't his idea to go to L.A to challenge gracie. His colleague, Miyato made a plan and asked anjo what is recalled by anjo himself "a favor of lifetime". Anjo says in his own words that he wasn't expecting a NHB fight but a light spar to demonstrate what they both could do to each other. Anjo could have what he wanted if he was invading a prowrestling facility, or a kungfu school or a boxing gym instead of a place owned by family members of the gracies. The Brazilians had more accurate interpretation of bushido I must say.

 

[ChickenBrother]

>>EVERYONE knew and respected Rickson’s achievements.

In 1994? I doubt it. Unless you were from the Brazilian martial art community or you were Craig Kukuk or Chuck Norris, you would've barely had a clear idea of how good he actually was.

Until Anjo got his big mouth ass kicked in California, rickson's invincibility in the world media was supported by just 2 statements of famous people. 1) Royce "my brother is 10 times stronger blah blah" 2) satoru sayama "rickson has a record of four hundred wins blah blah" both of which were neglectable for a realist. They didn't have Mundial/PanAm championships or ADCC back then (rickson didnt participate in any of them regardless) and all rickson'd ever proved to the world was he could dominate someone with no valetudo experience.

Rickson was well known in 1994 among hardcores that were looking to prove themselves in mixed rules fights. Remember the Gracies had been in the U.S. since late 70's and Rorion had been teaching out of his garage since then and doing bit parts in movies - he taught Mel Gibson the triangle choke he used in Lethal Weapon (1987).

In 1991 as a HS wrestler I did a LEO course taught by a self defense instructor to the LAPD. He was a purple under Rigan, had rolled with Helio and like everyone else associated with BJJ at the time, trumpeted the legend of Rickson, Gracie family champion and the best fighter in the world. He showed us the fight tapes of Rickson vs. Zulu I and II and talked about the "Gracie Challenge" of $100K to anyone who could beat Rickson (this was also published in Black Belt magazine IIRC).

Rickson was also known among wrestlers in SoCal at the time - apparently he had had some friendly challenge matches with at least one college wrestling coach. Consensus was you didn't want to go to the mat with him.

In hindsight we know the Gracies pulled some unsavory shit but Rickson was consensus best BJJ practitioner of his time. And after the UFC came out, because it was so closely associated with BJJ, everyone that trained in those circles was made to drink the Kool Aid.

 

[Kforcer]

I understand how this could have been the case, but I can see the annoyance of Rickson…

EVERYONE knew and respected Rickson’s achievements. What sucks is when a NON-CHAMPION tries to make a name for themself simply by raising hell or starting a ruckus instead of earning their stripes through legit competition.

I know theater is part of fake wrestling, but Yoji was naive to think you can storm a dojo and challenge someone without fireworks happening.

Well, I mean, dojo storms weren't foreign at all to Japan. So I don't think Anjo can use the excuse that he didn't know what he would be in for. They weren't unknown to shoot-style professional wrestling either; in fact, they invited them by proclaiming themselves to be the "strongest."

 

[JacJeanFinger]

Rickson was well known in 1994 among hardcores that were looking to prove themselves in mixed rules fights. Remember the Gracies had been in the U.S. since late 70's and Rorion had been teaching out of his garage since then and doing bit parts in movies - he taught Mel Gibson the triangle choke he used in Lethal Weapon (1987).

In 1991 as a HS wrestler I did a LEO course taught by a self defense instructor to the LAPD. He was a purple under Rigan, had rolled with Helio and like everyone else associated with BJJ at the time, trumpeted the legend of Rickson, Gracie family champion and the best fighter in the world. He showed us the fight tapes of Rickson vs. Zulu I and II and talked about the "Gracie Challenge" of $100K to anyone who could beat Rickson (this was also published in Black Belt magazine IIRC).

Rickson was also known among wrestlers in SoCal at the time - apparently he had had some friendly challenge matches with at least one college wrestling coach. Consensus was you didn't want to go to the mat with him.

In hindsight we know the Gracies pulled some unsavory shit but Rickson was consensus best BJJ practitioner of his time. And after the UFC came out, because it was so closely associated with BJJ, everyone that trained in those circles was made to drink the Kool Aid.

Yes, there were non Brazilian people including you and I who knew about the gracie family before the original UFC. And we were the minority belonging to less than 0.1% of the entire 1st world male population.

Mma and mma media had existed in japan since the 1980's and rickson winning vtj 50k tourney in 1994 made the headlines of some magazines but at this point, his portrait was still covered in mud and it was extremely hard to find someone with bjj blue belt level knowledge or skill among martial Arts fans of North america or europe or Japan. The time wasn't anything like everybody knew and respected rickson's achievement and all.

Anjo incident reintroduced who rickson was to the Japanese media that was running about 18 months ahead of American media in those days. By the second vtj, more bjj missionaries arrived in North america but they were still teaching out of the garages.

 

[Patrick Jane]

Yoji Anjo speaks surprisingly good english. Not even engrish.

 

[Coconutwater]

Yes, there were non Brazilian people including you and I who knew about the gracie family before the original UFC. And we were the minority belonging to less than 0.1% of the entire 1st world male population.

Mma and mma media had existed in japan since the 1980's and rickson winning vtj 50k tourney in 1994 made the headlines of some magazines but at this point, his portrait was still covered in mud and it was extremely hard to find someone with bjj blue belt level knowledge or skill among martial Arts fans of North america or europe or Japan. The time wasn't anything like everybody knew and respected rickson's achievement and all.

Anjo incident reintroduced who rickson was to the Japanese media that was running about 18 months ahead of American media in those days. By the second vtj, more bjj missionaries arrived in North america but they were still teaching out of the garages.

I’m very familiar with BJJ history. This is my abbreviated take:

People saw Royce school everyone in the first two UFC’s, if you liked fake wrestling in America or martial arts, you knew it wasn’t a circus and that Royce’s technique was legit.

When Anjoh stormed Rickson’s in 1994, it would be impossible for them not to believe Rickson had legitimate skill. I’m not talking about “legendary” status per se, I’m talking simply “legit” skill, as in, not some bum or fraud. Royce proved it, and Anjoh’s people had to know. Japanese do their research and the issue was simple, they didn’t expect Rickson to agree to a battle immediately, since they did catch him off guard. And two, that Rickson would pound Anjoh’s face in.

Any normal person who saw at least TWO of Royce’s fights had to trust that this “Rickson” guy had to have some skill, and the Japanese knew it and doubted it would escalate into real Vale Tudo. Once Rickson agreed, there was no turning back for the Japanese.

 

[ChickenBrother]

Yes, there were non Brazilian people including you and I who knew about the gracie family before the original UFC. And we were the minority belonging to less than 0.1% of the entire 1st world male population.

Mma and mma media had existed in japan since the 1980's and rickson winning vtj 50k tourney in 1994 made the headlines of some magazines but at this point, his portrait was still covered in mud and it was extremely hard to find someone with bjj blue belt level knowledge or skill among martial Arts fans of North america or europe or Japan. The time wasn't anything like everybody knew and respected rickson's achievement and all.

Anjo incident reintroduced who rickson was to the Japanese media that was running about 18 months ahead of American media in those days. By the second vtj, more bjj missionaries arrived in North america but they were still teaching out of the garages.

Maybe we're saying the same thing - I'm not saying Rickson was known to casuals in 1994 (he still isn't) but was agreeing with @Coconutwater's post that certainly Anjo (like other hardcores of the time) would have known very well of Rickson's accomplishments and reputation. Completely agree BJJ wasn't widespread in the mid 90's but after UFC 1 there was a lot of interest among hardcores and people who trained or wanted to train. If you didn't live near a Gracie school or couldn't afford it, usually this took the form of open mats and one guy had maybe 6 months of BJJ or if you were really lucky, a blue belt. After seeing his fights in VTJ 1994, it was clear to anyone who trained that Rickson was a much better athlete than Royce in the way he moved and that was consistent with the message from the BJJ/MMA community.

 

[JacJeanFinger]

>>Anjo (like other hardcores of the time) would have known very well of Rickson's accomplishments and reputation.

By the last quarter of 1994, Martial art media targeting hard core social misfit fans could've been successful in leading 145000 young fellows worldwide to believe rickson gracie was the greatest and most dominant fighter alive. Early UFCs had undeniable impact on those who got stuck in teenage wonderland where Bruce Lee and Muhammad Ali fight nightly for the pride of angry asperger cranks.

Gracie was the name that mattered to fighters too. Bas rutten (1996), Mark Kerr (1998), tito Ortiz (2000), BJ Penn (2002) specifically wanted to fight someone from the legendary Brazilian family as soon as they reached the highest rank in the sport.

However, out of that 145000 people who thought highly of rickson in 1994, how many really understood or knew based on direct sources the technical level or credibility of his? Not many. Without knowing to some depth, how could you possibly respect someone?

My friend asked anjo on a streaming live about how he prepared to fight rickson. Anjo said "I watched some of the jujitsu tape we had." referring to rorion's original instructional series (aka "gateway to blue belt mastery"). He basically fought without any bjj skill. He definitely wasn't one of the 145000 rickson nut riding society members.

>>I’m very familiar with BJJ history.

I agree. I just pointed out what was exaggerated.

 

[JacJeanFinger]

Yoji Anjo speaks surprisingly good english. Not even engrish.

He lived in New Zealand from 6 till 11. After gaining self consciousness, before forming adolescence traits, the best 5 years of life for learning another language without losing what you were born with.

 

[Coconutwater]

>>Anjo (like other hardcores of the time) would have known very well of Rickson's accomplishments and reputation.

By the last quarter of 1994, Martial art media targeting hard core social misfit fans could've been successful in leading 145000 young fellows worldwide to believe rickson gracie was the greatest and most dominant fighter alive. Early UFCs had undeniable impact on those who got stuck in teenage wonderland where Bruce Lee and Muhammad Ali fight nightly for the pride of angry asperger cranks.

Gracie was the name that mattered to fighters too. Bas rutten (1996), Mark Kerr (1998), tito Ortiz (2000), BJ Penn (2002) specifically wanted to fight someone from the legendary Brazilian family as soon as they reached the highest rank in the sport.

However, out of that 145000 people who thought highly of rickson in 1994, how many really understood or knew based on direct sources the technical level or credibility of his? Not many. Without knowing to some depth, how could you possibly respect someone?

My friend asked anjo on a streaming live about how he prepared to fight rickson. Anjo said "I watched some of the jujitsu tape we had." referring to rorion's original instructional series (aka "gateway to blue belt mastery"). He basically fought without any bjj skill. He definitely wasn't one of the 145000 rickson nut riding society members.

>>I’m very familiar with BJJ history.

I agree. I just pointed out what was exaggerated.

All I’m saying is, Anjoh may not of believed Rickson was this killer, but he had to know Rickson was at least as good as Royce.

And Royce was respected by then.

Like I said earlier, Anjoh didn’t expect a fight to really take place, IMHO.

 

[Dece]

I never met Anjo but he's one of the few japanese wrestlers who traveled all the way to England to study at the Snake pit. From what I heard he's the kind of guy who lacks the mental game and can only perform in the gym. So I think Anjo didn't expect a real fight to take place but rather a sparring session if there would be any grappling.