News Teila Tuli passes away

[Bluesbreaker]

Has it ever been confirmed he was the actual first fight? Either way RIP

Tuli was the first fight of the PPV. Technically there was an unaired alternate fight (Jason Delucia vs Trent Jenkins) that was the first ever UFC bout.

Jason DeLucia vs Trent Jenkins was the first ever UFC match (non-broadcasted preliminary bout).
No disrespect intended. RIP to Mr Tuli

They have it on ufc hits vol 1:

Tooks years before I found that out.

I can't be bothered finding it, but I believe someone on Sherdog recently proved the Delucia/Jenkins match was later in the night.

 

[HHJ]

Rip

Lots of these ufc 1 dudes dying young. Hopefully Royce reaches his dads age at least.

Well Royce seems to live a clean healthy lifestyle. Tuli and Rosier were overweight.

Pat Smith got cancer, and the cause of death of Art Jimmerson, who was 60 yrs old, wasnt revealed.

 

[Deleted member 449757]

I can't be bothered finding it, but I believe someone on Sherdog recently proved the Delucia/Jenkins match was later in the night.

It was me and @Nathan LaMontagne discussing it, lol

Jason DeLucia's Combat Aikido

So Black Belt Magazine just posted an old Jason DeLucia instructional video on Aikido. I thought it's worth sharing either for your amusement and ridicule or your genuine interest: I wonder what Sensei Seagal thinks about DeLucia ...

forums.sherdog.com

 

[Bluesbreaker]

It was me and @Nathan LaMontagne discussing it, lol

Jason DeLucia's Combat Aikido

So Black Belt Magazine just posted an old Jason DeLucia instructional video on Aikido. I thought it's worth sharing either for your amusement and ridicule or your genuine interest: I wonder what Sensei Seagal thinks about DeLucia ...

forums.sherdog.com

Cheers, mate!

 

[ValentinG]

RIP. That's now 4 of the 8 original fighters. I didn't know it until a few days ago, but Art Jimmerson passed away last month. Pat Smith and Kevin Rosier both died a few years ago.

Wow

Both Art Jimmerson and Teila Tuli were present at that Legends of UFC 1 | Fighters of the Roundtable just a few months ago.
It's like the universe waited for them to contribute with that historical and nostalgic meeting before taking them away from us

 

[StonedLemur]

He's better known by most people for being in movies but this guy was one half of the first ever UFC fight so lets put some hespect on his name.

R.I.P big man, nothing but respect and love for you.

 

[BJJ4Tone]

Damn!! that's so sad.
I just watched Forgetting Sarah Marshall a couple days ago and he's so good in it.

 

[USA!USA!]

RIP Teila Tuli

 

[GrantB13]

Rip 56 is young to die. Dude had to have been sick or something

That weight is not conducive to longevity. Extra fat and muscle puts a lot of stress on vital organs.

 

[mkt]

Rip 56 is young to die. Dude had to have been sick or something

I'm sure the obesity didn't help, especially since he was that way his entire adult life. That said, one of the few pro wrestlers from the 70s/80s who didn't die young was Abdullah the Butcher, who was as fat as a sumo. He's still alive at age 83. He's not in good health, but still going.

 

[Ironheart]

RIP king

 

[Blastbeat]

i wonder why he didnt try to continue fighting? perhaps he didnt know where it would go; no one couldve foreseen how big the UFC has gotten.
Rest well, big fella. And thank you.

 

[mkt]

Jason DeLucia vs Trent Jenkins was the first ever UFC match (non-broadcasted preliminary bout).
No disrespect intended. RIP to Mr Tuli

Backstory on Delucia. He was a kung fu guy who did the Gracie Challenge before the UFC and was tapped out. Then he studied with the Gracies for about a year before UFC 1. He fought a few other kung fu/karate/kickboxing guys in his early career. I'm sure they all wondered why he dove for their legs instead of battling on his feet.

 

[mkt]

i wonder why he didnt try to continue fighting? perhaps he didnt know where it would go; no one couldve foreseen how big the UFC has gotten.
Rest well, big fella. And thank you.

Sumos were always freak shows in NHB/MMA. Emmanuel Yarbrough fought in a later UFC and Akebono fought a few times in Pride. But none of them fought very often or did well. I think one of them had a win in Japan in the 90s. He got on top of his opponent who was scared he'd get suffocated so he tapped out. That's the only time I remember one of them winning a fight.

 

[mkt]

Rip

Lots of these ufc 1 dudes dying young. Hopefully Royce reaches his dads age at least.

Tuli and Rosier were both obese. I remember reading about Rosier living in some kind of assisted living/retirement facility in his early 50s. Jimmerson always looked fit. He coached boxing at a UFC Gym. No idea what happened to him. Pat Smith always stayed fit as well. Wikipedia said this about his death

"Smith died of sarcomatoid carcinoma of the bladder and Sarcomatoid carcinomas variant of urotherlia (SVUC) at age 55.[15] His death is possibly attributed to his addiction of chewing tobacco."

 

[TrueBias]

Was he in forgetting sarah Marshall or something?

And hes in the first ufc?

 

[mahavishnunj]

This thread is (I think) where DeLucia gets into it with Bas Rutten's sister:

Q for Jason DeLucia...

Hi, Jason! We were discussing UFC Records on another 'site, and I was hoping you could clear something up. The other guys were saying that Ken Shamrock was the first fighter to win via submission in the UFC... but I seem to recall that you submitted someone in a qualifying match at UFC...

forums.sherdog.com

 

[Deleted member 449757]

Sumos were always freak shows in NHB/MMA. Emmanuel Yarbrough fought in a later UFC and Akebono fought a few times in Pride. But none of them fought very often or did well. I think one of them had a win in Japan in the 90s. He got on top of his opponent who was scared he'd get suffocated so he tapped out. That's the only time I remember one of them winning a fight.

Koji Kitao did a much better job in MMA than his record would suggest. Probably the best Sumo in MMA.

Unless of course we wanna get into technicalities, since Kiyoshi Tamuras martial arts background before he got into pro wrestling was Sumo and Judo.

 

[mkt]

Koji Kitao did a much better job in MMA than his record would suggest. Probably the best Sumo in MMA.

Unless of course we wanna get into technicalities, since Kiyoshi Tamuras martial arts background before he got into pro wrestling was Sumo and Judo.

Yeah, Machida had some sumo training as well. What I was referring to was the classic overweight sumo with little or no cross-training.

 

[Mickey Mick]

He was dope on the UFC 1 reunion. You could tell he was kinda disappointed how he performed in his only fight and how he's remembered and Gerard of all people was like you were still there and you had guts.

I thought of the reunion too, and with art’s recent passing it seems the old guard is all dying off, sadly.

Rip to a UFC OG.