What got you into mma? What fight got you into mma?

[Xaero]

When that karate guy knocked the tooth out of the big sumo guy's mouth.

I was like, WTF?

 

[sweetviolenturg]

I've been a lifelong martial artist & a professional combat sports athlete ( boxing & kickboxing ) so I knew Kevin Rosier because we're both from Buffalo, trained at some of the same gyms & fought on some of the same cards back in the '80s. So, he called me up one day in October of 1993 to tell me about a new tournament that he was going to be a part of called the "War of the Worlds" that was going to pit all different styles of fighting against one another. And, as a multiple-time WKA heavyweight kickboxing world champion as well as a pro boxer he was convinced that he was going to win it. So, he told me to be sure to order it on PPV a few weeks later.
That tournament, of course, turned out to be UFC 1 & I tuned in to watch it that night having no idea what to expect. But, I was reasonably sure that Kevin would wind up winning the whole thing because I knew how tough he was & with there being no rules I was afraid that he's wind up badly hurting someone. Which almost happened in his first fight in the tourney when he stomped Karate fighter Zane Frazier ( who'd beaten up Frank Dux of BLOODSPORT fame at a tournament a year or so earlier ) into defeat. But, during the course of the fight, Kevin wound up breaking his hand which hampered him greatly in his second match-up against Savate world champion Gerard Gordeau who knocked him out.
Which greatly disappointed me but, naturally, I finished watching the tournament & I loved what I saw. So, I ordered each & every UFC event afterward & ordered Direct TV specifically so that I'd be able to continue to watch the sport during the era of the great blackout when MMA was banned from cable television in the late '90s.
And, I've remained a diehard fan of the sport ever since. The only sport that I enjoy as much is pro boxing naturally because it's how I used to make my living.

 

[Lint]

Imagine if rickson fought instead of royce

Lol, could you imagine people's face after that??

 

[Africa5876]

I've been a lifelong martial artist & a professional combat sports athlete ( boxing & kickboxing ) so I knew Kevin Rosier because we're both from Buffalo, trained at some of the same gyms & fought on some of the same cards back in the '80s. So, he called me up one day in October of 1993 to tell me about a new tournament that he was going to be a part of called the "War of the Worlds" that was going to pit all different styles of fighting against one another. And, as a multiple-time WKA heavyweight kickboxing world champion as well as a pro boxer he was convinced that he was going to win it. So, he told me to be sure to order it on PPV a few weeks later.
That tournament, of course, turned out to be UFC 1 & I tuned in to watch it that night having no idea what to expect. But, I was reasonably sure that Kevin would wind up winning the whole thing because I knew how tough he was & with there being no rules I was afraid that he's wind up badly hurting someone. Which almost happened in his first fight in the tourney when he stomped Karate fighter Zane Frazier ( who'd beaten up Frank Dux of BLOODSPORT fame at a tournament a year or so earlier ) into defeat. But, during the course of the fight, Kevin wound up breaking his hand which hampered him greatly in his second match-up against Savate world champion Gerard Gordeau who knocked him out.
Which greatly disappointed me but, naturally, I finished watching the tournament & I loved what I saw. So, I ordered each & every UFC event afterward & ordered Direct TV specifically so that I'd be able to continue to watch the sport during the era of the great blackout when MMA was banned from cable television in the late '90s.
And, I've remained a diehard fan of the sport ever since. The only sport that I enjoy as much is pro boxing naturally because it's how I used to make my living.

Jesus, now that's real dedication right there, 25 years and counting

 

[Africa5876]

Lol, could you imagine people's face after that??

He probably would have squeezed someone's eyeball out then try to duck shamrock like he did sakuraba, altering the course of mma history, lol.

 

[Lakebilly440]

A kid that lived across the street from my grandma's use to rent the VHS tapes amd we would watch when I visited gam gam...

Didn't watch for years and years. Got into Rogan's podcast and was sick of not knowing or understanding what he was talking about.

It wasnt a certain fight in particular. I'm from cleveland are so it was easy to get behind stipe. Cowboys, DC, Diaz, etc any fighters that have a good story or interesting style.

I am the only one in my friend group that watches. But I don't mind. They know if we hang out on a Saturday we are watching fights. But most of the time it's me checking sherddog and watching solo.. Yes I'm a casual, yes I like WMMA

 

[Smoochie Wallace]

My dad introduced me to Pride and k1 as a young kid. I don't think I even understood that they where different sports back then. It was all fighting to me. Then it just kind of stayed with me.

 

[Africa5876]

My dad introduced me to Pride and k1 as a young kid. I don't think I even understood that they where different sports back then. It was all fighting to me. Then it just kind of stayed with me.

Do you remember any fights specifically?

 

[LDC93]

Chuck vs wanderlei
I was like 14 or something. But since that moment i was fuckin hooked

 

[Smoochie Wallace]

Do you remember any fights specifically?

I no longer have access to any original reels of memory of any fights, I only remember the fighters themselves right now. The fights have been overwritten by memories of more recent watchings.

 

[kalabula]

I used to wait for the events to come to VHS at my local rental place.

 

[TAK47]

K-1 on Eurosport in 2003.
Cro Cop and Hunt were fighting, I researched them, discovered MMA...

 

[BEATDOWNS]

I'm a TUF Noob. I had seen plenty of UFC before that but never really followed it or cared all that much.

TUF 1 got me hooked.

Feels so good to get that off my chest after all these years of hiding in shame.

 

[SuperNerd]

Hughes/Trigg 2, was hooked after that

Watched early UFC, thought it was awful.
Checked in when Tito was getting popular, thought he was boring.

Then TUF era got me

 

[DLX]

Watching Kimbo and Anderson Silva fights got me interested. Then after Tuf 7, I was hooked.

 

[Scurvydawg]

Watching Gracie sub a bunch of mean brawlers. Proving that skill beats size in 90% of the fights. Was freaking wild. He just looked like a regular joe back then. Subbing monsters who had 100 pounds on him. Choking em out anyway he could. Throwing 100 little rabbit punches in there face until the guys would freak out do to frustration and try to escape. Then he would choke em or sub em. It was really wild.

Me and my friend actually rented the VHS tape from Blockbuster and i don't think he ever brought it back. xD. Probably kicking around somewhere in his attic. We watched it so many times.

Gracie was the baddest man alive during that era in my opinion. One weight class and 3 fights in a night. He was hardcore. Puts these new hosers to shame who only fight 1 or two times a year. UFC was better back then. Felt more like a gladiator match then any kinda sanctioned pro event.

 

[ThoskaBrah]

I am similiar to you, TS, though I am not bisexual. I read about the McGregor Khabib post fight brawl in the news and decided to check out that fight just out of curiosity. Luckily, I also watched the whole UFC pre fight movie so that got me pretty hyped, and I got the story behind the biggest fight in the ufc. Since then I watched pretty much all of the cards and got more and more into different fighters. I also checked many past fights and fighters. MMA has become one of the most, if not the most, exciting sport to watch live for me, so I am more than glad to have found the sport.

 

[newcastleman]

Never heard of tpi, where can I watch their fights?

It was a short-lived MMA organisation from Indonesia. It had weekly events, and occasional tournaments. I remember staying up until the early hours watching this 8-man tournament, which was tremendous. The winner, Linsun, was a freakish athlete, much physically stronger than most. He's my favourite, but I was a bit worried for him in the final as his opponent was an undefeated brute with the title "Champion of Borneo"! But Linsun destroyed him. However Linsun lost sometime later to Fransino Tirta, who became the new golden boy of MMA in Indonesia. Then TPI stopped, due to a sponsorship problem I think, and Linsun retired. Transport him 16 years in the future to now and, with some improved submission defence, he'd be a formidable lightweight.
Unfortunately there's not much on YouTube, but you can see a few TPI fights there.

 

[Joshuaace]

Of course it shoulda been stopped. He lost 4 teeth.

Under the rules at the time it should not have been.
GOAT chin ever, he was still very alert and aware.
During my personal "just bleed" years it should not have been stopped.
Of course there are also times I think it was a no brainer to stop that fight.
As I've aged I've softened. Just a couple days ago a bug flew into both of my eyeballs as Frankie's son came in to the cage to walk him out.

It's nearing 30 years ago man. My thoughts on Capitol Punishment have changed a couple times in the same time span also. But there may still be occasions where I wonder if the ref had not intervened, what would have happened.............

 

[GBJohn]

My cousin got me into MMA, the first fight that really hooked me was Spencer Fisher versus Sam Stout.