Was Mr. Maeda talked about here?

Ogata

Ogata

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In the late 90s you had muay thai and judo champion enter the MMA. Sadly he ran in to gokor and after losing he never continued the MMA.

It was an exceptionally bad match up to debut against gokor. But if he had opponents with the same record. Could Mr. Maeda make it to the UFC and become a champ of the old era?

 
Not really. I would have loved to see Gokor face off against Volk Han though, tbh.
 
He wasn't a Muay Thai or judo champion. He didn't actually have a martial arts background. If you dig, you can find his real name. Took the fight at the last second, I think they wanted Akira Maeda, but this guy substituted. He is a personal trainer now and he's quite a beast physically. But he was not a martial artist. Just a strong guy with a lot of guts.
 
Here's a link to his Facebook page for his gym:
https://www.facebook.com/fitprohawaii/

I guess his name is Bill Maeda. As I said, no martial arts background to speak of. That was just early MMA shenanigans. I think part of it was they wanted the public to possibly think it was Akira Maeda by calling him "Mr. Maeda."
 
Kforcer said:
He wasn't a Muay Thai or judo champion. He didn't actually have a martial arts background. If you dig, you can find his real name. Took the fight at the last second, I think they wanted Akira Maeda, but this guy substituted. He is a personal trainer now and he's quite a beast physically. But he was not a martial artist. Just a strong guy with a lot of guts.
Click to expand...

I know he is Bill Maeda and lives in Hawaii but I don't see any proof of him lacking in martial arts skills. I just assumed it being true because he moves well.
 
Ogata said:
I know he is Bill Maeda and lives in Hawaii but I don't see any proof of him lacking in martial arts skills. I just assumed it being true because he moves well.
Click to expand...
He didn't have any real training. His record and all that was made up. Check out this thread in the Underground Forums: https://forums.mixedmartialarts.com/t/gokor-chivichyan-vs-rickson-gracie/2424158/35

The most relevant part is this e-mail exchange between Bill Maeda and a member of the forum, which he posts in the thread:

Hi Bill,

I just came across your website. As an avid MMA fan I recognized you from your fight with Gokor in 1997. They announced you as "Mr. Maeda" as I guess they figured Bill was too American, lol. I am just curious if you have time to answer...how were you approached to fight in that event? It seems they tried to create a character out of you with some 200-0 fight record but if I am not mistaken this was your only MMA fight right? I was under the understanding that basically they wanted to make Gokor look good and that's why they embellished your record. Were you paid or encouraged to throw the fight or did they let you fight legitimately? Anyway, I would love to get a reply from you as I find MMA history very interesting. Oh and congrats on the training stuff, it seems you have a solid following!

Joe

----

Hi Joe,

You MUST be a big fan of MMA to remember that fight.
I got into that event through a stunt coordinator I me while working on a movie called "The Rock". Everything from my height to my "record" was as you correctly stated "embellished", but I had no knowledge of this until much later. To be honest, it wouldn't have mattered. Even if I was 6'3", 225lbs. with a record of 200-0, The Mighty Gokor would have just had longer to enjoy defeating me than he did:)
The fight was not staged. I was instructed to go out there and do my best to kill him, which I did. My ground game at the time was obviously minimal, but I did try, just for my own sake. Gokor Chivichyan is a consummate gentleman, but when the bell rang, I was scared shitless. To this day I honestly believe that he could have run through the whole fight card without breaking a sweat. The man is a legend, and although grossly outmatched, I felt honored to meet (and be beaten by) him.
Hope that helps you out.

Aloha,
Bill (Mr.) Maeda
apple.png


I think it's obvious, even without that, that the credentials were faked. Find me any proof of Bill Maeda's 200-0 fight record or judo accomplishments. There's none to be found. He is clearly a brave man and a total beast, physically. He actually may have had some degree of training because he call his ground game "minimal", which seems to imply that he did have some level of martial arts schooling, but clearly nothing remotely like what was advertised.

Here's his website: https://www.fitprohawaii.com/

If you're still skeptical that Gokor basically fought a guy who'd never stepped in the ring before, who was passed off by promoters and announcers as a 200-0 fighter and possibly Akira Maeda himself, then you can always just e-mail Bill yourself, as he has his contacts there.
 
Kforcer said:
He didn't have any real training. His record and all that was made up. Check out this thread in the Underground Forums: https://forums.mixedmartialarts.com/t/gokor-chivichyan-vs-rickson-gracie/2424158/35

The most relevant part is this e-mail exchange between Bill Maeda and a member of the forum, which he posts in the thread:

Hi Bill,

I just came across your website. As an avid MMA fan I recognized you from your fight with Gokor in 1997. They announced you as "Mr. Maeda" as I guess they figured Bill was too American, lol. I am just curious if you have time to answer...how were you approached to fight in that event? It seems they tried to create a character out of you with some 200-0 fight record but if I am not mistaken this was your only MMA fight right? I was under the understanding that basically they wanted to make Gokor look good and that's why they embellished your record. Were you paid or encouraged to throw the fight or did they let you fight legitimately? Anyway, I would love to get a reply from you as I find MMA history very interesting. Oh and congrats on the training stuff, it seems you have a solid following!

Joe

----

Hi Joe,

You MUST be a big fan of MMA to remember that fight.
I got into that event through a stunt coordinator I me while working on a movie called "The Rock". Everything from my height to my "record" was as you correctly stated "embellished", but I had no knowledge of this until much later. To be honest, it wouldn't have mattered. Even if I was 6'3", 225lbs. with a record of 200-0, The Mighty Gokor would have just had longer to enjoy defeating me than he did:)
The fight was not staged. I was instructed to go out there and do my best to kill him, which I did. My ground game at the time was obviously minimal, but I did try, just for my own sake. Gokor Chivichyan is a consummate gentleman, but when the bell rang, I was scared shitless. To this day I honestly believe that he could have run through the whole fight card without breaking a sweat. The man is a legend, and although grossly outmatched, I felt honored to meet (and be beaten by) him.
Hope that helps you out.

Aloha,
Bill (Mr.) Maeda
apple.png


I think it's obvious, even without that, that the credentials were faked. Find me any proof of Bill Maeda's 200-0 fight record or judo accomplishments. There's none to be found. He is clearly a brave man and a total beast, physically. He actually may have had some degree of training because he call his ground game "minimal", which seems to imply that he did have some level of martial arts schooling, but clearly nothing remotely like what was advertised.

Here's his website: https://www.fitprohawaii.com/

If you're still skeptical that Gokor basically fought a guy who'd never stepped in the ring before, who was passed off by promoters and announcers as a 200-0 fighter and possibly Akira Maeda himself, then you can always just e-mail Bill yourself, as he has his contacts there.
Click to expand...

I believe you because I remember now that a decade ago I give Bill some props on his channel and told him that be is a an unspoken legend of mma.

He replied with something along the lines of " I appreciate your compliment but I can't accept it"

I thought he was being modest.

Still nothing changes. The dude is just as impressive because he fought in the unknown era in which you didn't know if you would or could legit run in to a dim mak/death touch master.

Clearly he is still dedicated to fitness. It would be nice to see him also channel to MMA. I appreciate your post.
 
Ogata said:
In the late 90s you had muay thai and judo champion enter the MMA. Sadly he ran in to gokor and after losing he never continued the MMA.

It was an exceptionally bad match up to debut against gokor. But if he had opponents with the same record. Could Mr. Maeda make it to the UFC and become a champ of the old era?

Click to expand...

That fight you posted is fake. It's GOKOR paying a stuntman to take up the name of Maeda to sell himself
 
Gokor is so solid. I have his leg lock instructional. Great stuff.
 
Ogata said:
I believe you because I remember now that a decade ago I give Bill some props on his channel and told him that be is a an unspoken legend of mma.

He replied with something along the lines of " I appreciate your compliment but I can't accept it"

I thought he was being modest.

Still nothing changes. The dude is just as impressive because he fought in the unknown era in which you didn't know if you would or could legit run in to a dim mak/death touch master.

Clearly he is still dedicated to fitness. It would be nice to see him also channel to MMA. I appreciate your post.
Click to expand...
Gokor's win is less impressive, given that he was going against a late-substitute rookie, but Bill Maeda is way, way, way more impressive given that he was a rookie fighting on courage and innate physical ability. That said, Gokor is still a martial arts legend, either way.

But yeah, Bill Maeda is the man and he's still totally ripped even now. I'm sure if he chose to dedicate himself to the grappling arts, he'd do incredibly well, based on his strength, explosiveness, core and control.
 
Last edited:
NoSmilez said:
That fight you posted is fake. It's GOKOR paying a stuntman to take up the name of Maeda to sell himself
Click to expand...
The fight isn't fake, just the accomplishments they ascribe to the opponent.
 
Kforcer said:
He wasn't a Muay Thai or judo champion. He didn't actually have a martial arts background. If you dig, you can find his real name. Took the fight at the last second, I think they wanted Akira Maeda, but this guy substituted. He is a personal trainer now and he's quite a beast physically. But he was not a martial artist. Just a strong guy with a lot of guts.
Click to expand...
Akira Maeda vs. Gokor would have been a sight to behold.
 
I wrote like half a message about Akira Maeda and how he was hinted at fighting Rickson at Pride 1 but never would have due to being approximately 50% dutch-tape by then before realizing this thread is actually about some other guy named Bill
 
Kforcer said:
If they were both in-shape, then absolutely. Ken Shamrock said that Akira Maeda was "untouchable" in the gym.
Click to expand...

People mentioned Gokor to be untouchable in grappling.
 
Ogata said:
People mentioned Gokor to be untouchable in grappling.
Click to expand...
I don't think anybody was disputing Gokor's skill level. But fewer people are aware of Akira Maeda's reputation as one of the top shooters in the gym. So it was worth mentioning.
 


bump. Saw this on YouTube and was researching Bill Maeda and saw this. I know this is an old thread but thought it’s worth mentioning
 
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