For The Hardcores

Category: Hardcores

  • The Uncrowned Phenom | Vitor Belfort | 2009 to 2015

    The Uncrowned Phenom | Vitor Belfort | 2009 to 2015

    Return To The UFC

    After Vitor Belfort’s absolute annihilation of Matt Lindland in January of 2009, we would never see him compete outside of the UFC again. For the last four years, Belfort fought in PRIDE, Strikeforce, and even won a world title in Cage Rage – not having competed in the UFC since he faced Tito Ortiz at UFC 51 in February of 2005. That didn’t seem to matter to Belfort, as he appeared as confident and excited as ever. He was fighting Rich Franklin – a former champion and beloved fan favorite. Rich was a few years removed from his championship run at middleweight, but his age and experience would deceive you at first glance. At that point the only losses he had in his ten-plus year career were Lyoto Machida (former champion), Anderson Silva (we all know), and Dan Henderson (former PRIDE and Strikeforce champion). Even then a lot of people (including myself) thought Franklin beat Hendo. Given that Belfort was looking better than he ever had before, this was a big test to see if he would be a contender in the UFC, and for Rich, it was a big test in seeing if he could rise back up the ranks and make another title run. Although Franklin had a long run by then, these two were still close in age and tenure, with Belfort being 32, and Rich being 34. The matchup took place as the main event of UFC 103, which was originally supposed to be Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson II, but fans convinced the UFC that they didn’t want to see a rematch of the fight they just saw earlier that year. The two fighters (Vitor and Rich) agreed this bout would be at a catchweight of 195 pounds, as both of them competed at both 205 and 185, feeling their best in between. I remember when this fight was announced I was excited, but being a fan of both guys, I didn’t want to see either of them lose. But I knew if Franklin won it would spoil Belfort’s title hopes, and being that Rich was already the champion, I wanted to see Vitor get that chance. Plus, I REALLY saw Belfort as a huge threat to Anderson Silva (hehe), and I wanted to see that fight badly. 

    Image courtesy of Neil Davidson for The Globe and Mail

    Event: UFC 103 | September 19, 2009

    Record Before Fight: 18-8

    Opponent: Rich Franklin 

    Opponent’s Ranking: 7 (Light Heavyweight – 205 lbs)

    Result: Win // KO (Punches)

    Score: 4 points

    I will say that in this fight, Rich Franklin looked uncharacteristically nervous. That’s not to say he’d never had nerves before but you can tell during the glove touch and when the opening bell rings, that Rich is a little off. Once they start feeling each other out it becomes clear that Rich is being cautious because of Vitor’s power, at a few points even becoming noncommittal in his strikes. Two and a half minutes in, Rich whiffs on a right hook and Vitor shows his right, and sort of paws it out there. This causes Franklin to pull back right away. Rich then throws an overhand left, which Vitor easily avoids, and Rich retracts quickly, wary of the counter. Belfort, looking as calm as ever, begins to stalk his prey. They both jab at the same time but Belfort ducks under the one aimed at his head, and lands his own. In the same motion he follows up with a rear uppercut and right hook, both of which graze Franklin’s chin. Vitor feels he is getting close and in an instant, he throws another jab and a left overhand/hook hybrid punch. The angle starts on a downward slope like an overhand, then he swings it around in a circular motion, finishing the technique like a wide hook. What’s crazy about this punch is that it seems to barely graze the back of Franklin’s right temple, towards the back of his head, sort of in the spot where you would let your over-ear headphones rest momentarily if you took them off your ears. When the punch landed Franklin was looking for a lead hook of his own, but barely engaged his shoulder. Vitor Belfort knocks out Rich Franklin in the first round, three minutes in. To me the speed advantage for Belfort was stark, and much more evident than I would have ever imagined. I knew that Vitor had super fast hands and Rich was never known to be particularly fast or explosive, but still, the difference was staggering. 

    The Spider’s web

    Let’s go over a bit of timeline here. Since April 2007, Vitor has put together a 5 fight win streak, with wins over Serati, James Zikic, Martin, Lindland, and now Franklin. The Cage Rage fights notwithstanding, and particularly the last two wins, make it a good run, with definitive results in each. After Belfort knocked out Rich Franklin, I really felt like he was the man to get the job done against Anderson Silva. At the time I strongly disliked Anderson for beating all of the guys I was a fan of (as is the case with most champions who beat all of my favorite fighters), and making them look stupid. But, everything I saw in Belfort’s fights made me believe he would be the one to give Anderson a true challenge. Considering Belfort was a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt, I wasn’t worried about him on the ground, especially given that he had much improved wrestling and top game, something well known to be a weakness of Silva’s. Belfort’s striking looked as good as it ever had, and he had developed a sniper-like style, where he calmly pressured his opponents, avoided whatever they threw, got their timing, and landed whatever shots he wanted. By this point in his career Vitor was known for his vicious countering almost as well as he was known for his blitzing during his early career, and it really made guys freeze in there, not knowing what would be coming back their way if they were aggressive against him. On top of that he matched up well against Anderson stylistically, bringing a more straightforward, pressure-based boxing approach, versus Anderson’s more Muay-Thai-meets-Traditional-Martial-Arts style, which in my head worked to Belfort’s advantage, and it helped that I was still in denial about the pure skill level of The Spider. After Belfort’s win over Rich, he finally faced Anderson Silva at UFC 126 in February of 2011. He was a slight underdog and was seen by a lot of fans as the striking equivalent of Sonnen, not in the sense that he would dominate, but that he would really push Anderson. Well that didn’t happen. Three minutes into the fight and really before a single exchange, Anderson front kicked Belfort in the chin, creating not just one of the most unique knockouts in the UFC, but one of the most legendary and iconic moments in the history of MMA. This was obviously a brutal setback for Belfort, and he had his sights set on becoming the UFC MIddleweight Champion, but the sorrow didn’t last long, as he returned six months later against Yoshihiro Akiyama and provided fans another first round knockout. This was followed by a win over a blown up Anthony Johnson, another first round finish. Vitor Belfort was scheduled to fight Alan Belcher at UFC 153 in October of 2012 and he was training for that fight when he got a call from the UFC brass, asking if he could step in at UFC 152, a month earlier then his scheduled matchup, to fill in for Lyoto Machida in a championship fight. That fight was against none other than Jon Jones, at 205 pounds, and Belfort accepted. After putting Jones in the most trouble he had been in with an armbar in the first round, Jon largely dominated Belfort for the remainder of the fight, taking him down and punishing him, and eventually finishing him with a kimura in the fourth round.

    Elephant In The Room

    Now here’s where shit gets weird. I’m not going to go into complete details about this but I feel anyone who has been a fan of the sport for at least 15 years will know exactly what I mean when I say “the elephant in the room”. When it comes to Vitor Belfort, this elephant is fully grown, and isn’t going anywhere until we address it. Over the years this phrase has turned into a way to define his career, completely dwarfing (and ultimately adding onto) the existing framing of his fight story. In September of 2012, a few weeks before Vitor stepped in to face Jones, the UFC accidentally sent out an email to a group of UFC affiliates (fighters, managers, and others) containing the results of Vitor Belfort’s most recent blood test results. Huge mistake, right? Despite their best efforts to mitigate this error and pretend like it didn’t happen, it still happened, and soon this document spread like wildfire, revealing the elevated testosterone levels inside of Belfort’s blood. If you want to read more about this, there’s a good article from Deadspin here. Five months after his loss to Jon Jones, it was made known that Vitor Belfort received a TUE for the fight, which stands for Therapeutic Use Exemption. This meant that due to low testosterone levels, Vitor was allowed to take synthetic testosterone (TRT) to bring his body back within a “normal” range of production. From an ethical standpoint, Belfort shouldn’t have been allowed to fight Jones, yet three weeks after this blood test, he was competing for a world title. With the Jones fight behind him, escaping the questions and controversy surrounding his TRT use, Belfort went to Brazil and knocked out his next three opponents, all in Brazil, all while using TRT approved by the Brazilian Commission. Vitor Belfort wasn’t the only fighter who received TUE’s or used TRT legally, but he was the most criticized for it, and I believe it’s because of the way he outright annihilated Michael Bisping, Luke Rockhold and Dan Henderson, securing himself a title shot against Chris Weidman at middleweight (who HATED that Belfort got the shot). Do I believe that Vitor Belfort was using a legal system to abuse TRT, in order to gain an unfair advantage? I do, but that’s not what this article is about. Don’t worry Vitor, I’m still a big fan. As for you, the person reading this, you can make that decision for yourself. 

    Don’t Look Back

    Let’s get back to why we’re here. With the Jones fight in his rearview mirror, Belfort sought redemption at what he felt was his optimal weight class, middleweight. Never one to revel in a loss or agony, Vitor turned around to face number 7 ranked Michael Bisping. Belfort went in with a renewed vigor and confidence, looking to pick up where he left off against Akiyama and Rumble. Believe it or not the odds were close to dead even in this matchup. It seems surprising at first given Belfort’s resume and Bisping’s tendency to be underrated, but with Vitor coming off a loss where he was dominated, and Bisping having been on quite the run with the exception of his loss to Sonnen, it was enough to even the score between the two of them.

    Image courtesy of Sportsnet

    Event: UFC on FX 7 | January 19, 2013

    Record Before Fight: 21-10

    Opponent: Michael Bisping

    Opponent’s Ranking: 7 (Middleweight – 185 lbs)

    Result: Win // KO (Head kick and punches)

    Score: 4 points

    The first few minutes of this fight didn’t see a lot of action, with Bisping controlling the pace, landing some low kicks and a few good jabs. About two minutes in, we see Belfort trying to time Bisping’s jab with a 1-2 of his own, missing on his left cross the first few times. Bisping notices this and starts using his right hand more, and Belfort responds. He slips a right hand and simultaneously gets a collar tie with his lead hand, blasting Bisping with a rear uppercut. Bisping starts feinting the jab and gets back to the low kicks, and Belfort responds with a few rear middle kicks, followed by an overhand left. In the closing seconds of the round Belfort feints the overhand left, gets Bisping to duck, and slams in a high kick. This wobbles Bisping but doesn’t come close to finishing him, as Belfort stalks him for several seconds. That round was more tactical than I remembered, with both fighters making adjustments multiple times. Close round but the final seconds probably gives it to Vitor. Bisping opens the second with more low kicks, as Vitor is still looking for his hands, but landing some body kicks. Less than two minutes into the round Vitor lands a rear high kick that puts Bisping down, and he finishes the job. There were two different setups for that high kick for those paying attention. In the first round it was the overhand left (accentuating the feint by lowering his hips and shoulder just enough). In the second round it was landing the middle (body) kick that Bisping didn’t seem to have an answer for. Belfort feinted to the body and went to the head. Another knockout finish. 

    The Streak Continues

    After head kicking Bisping, Belfort was ready for his next challenge. In January of 2013, then Zuffa-led Strikeforce, announced that “Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine” would be their final event, and decisions would soon be made on which fighters would be coming over to the UFC. One such fighter was Luke Rockhold, which was a no-brainer, because he was the reigning Strikeforce Middleweight Champion, ready to come into the UFC and beat whoever he needed to, keeping his Strikeforce belt warm while in pursuit of his own UFC gold. Leading up to the fight Luke said he wanted to “give Vitor his respect”, acknowledging that he has gotten sloppy in the past due to his overconfidence against other strikers. He even alluded to using his roots to potentially taking Vitor down and beating him there. When asked about Vitor’s TRT usage, Luke took a stance against it, but during fight week, he moved forward, assuring the media that all he cared about was the fight, and wasn’t thinking about Vitor’s testosterone levels. When Belfort himself was asked about it in the pre-fight presser, he said he was doing everything legally, and that “TRT doesn’t win fights”. Vitor adds that not only does it not win fights, but that a lot of people that are using, are losing (teehee). Which was true, at the time he was one of only two fighters who hadn’t lost since starting TRT usage. Either way Belfort saw Rockhold as a stepping stone to another title shot, and treated him as such in their fight. When this fight happened it was a big deal because Strikeforce (like PRIDE) was seen as having some of the best fighters in the world, along with the UFC. Not only was this a way to test that theory, it was also an exciting debut for a fighter who was on a 9 fight winning streak, against the most dangerous version of a UFC veteran who had fought for a title multiple times before. The odds for this fight were about even going in, reflecting the respect the oddsmakers had for Rockhold and his “legitsu”.

    Image courtesy of Zuffa LLC

    Event: UFC on FX 8 | May 18, 2013

    Record Before Fight: 22-10

    Opponent: Luke Rockhold

    Opponent’s Ranking: 5 (Middleweight – 185 lbs)

    Result: Win // KO (Spinning heel kick and punches)

    Score: 6 points

    No glove touch accompanied by a roaring crowd got this one started. The first minute sees a lot of moving around, and an uncharacteristic, diving shot from Luke Rockhold. In my eyes this gave Belfort confidence not just from defending the shot itself, but from the fact that Rockhold even shot it at all. This action makes Luke’s intentions clear: Take Vitor down and pound on his face. Rockhold did a good job of leading with his right side kicks, and Vitor showed hands when Luke decided to close the distance instead. Rockhold never being one to back down from a fight, he continued peppering Belfort’s lead leg, and held strong in the center. Less than three minutes in, Belfort landed a spinning heel kick, with the crowd being the only thing louder than his thunderous follow up shots. You can see Luke bring up his rear hand and as the kick lands, almost had his lead hand over for a double block. Based on his reaction it seemed like he thought it was going to the body but instead went to the head, and BANG.

    What goes up, must come down

    The Dan Henderson that Vitor Belfort fought at PRIDE 32 was not quite the Hendo of legend that developed over the following decade and yet, the Hendo he would be fighting at UFC Fight Night 32 was not quite that guy either. Having failed in two attempts to become a UFC champion at both middleweight and light heavyweight, Hendo was aging, and was coming off 2 losses (albeit close fights) when he faced arguably the most dangerous Vitor Belfort there ever was. Belfort of course, coming off two knockouts now, was more confident than ever, and ready for the challenge of not just securing a title shot against Chris Weidman, but redemption for his loss against Hendo 7 years prior. Henderson told the media he wanted this fight to look largely like their first fight in 2006, but he wanted a finish instead.

    Image courtesy of Josh Hedges for Zuffa LLC

    Event: UFC Fight Night 32 | November 9, 2013

    Record Before Fight: 23-10

    Opponent: Dan Henderson

    Opponent’s Ranking: 9 (Light Heavyweight – 205 lbs)

    Result: Win // KO (Head kick)

    Score: 4 points

    With Vitor Belfort having morphed into a TRT monster, his stance looked unusually low in the opening moments, perhaps because he was expecting a takedown from Henderson. In the first minute Dan threw 2 noncommittal right hands and landed one but as he closed the distance, ended up just inches away from Vitor, standing squarely, and walked into a left uppercut that reeled him backwards, onto his back. Dan immediately tried to recover full guard as Belfort pounded away. Hendo threatened an armbar briefly and this allowed him to slowly work his way back up, all the while getting mauled, narrowly escaping to his feet. The fact that none of these shots put him out is a testament to his chin and toughness. But it wouldn’t last for long because as soon as he stood straight up, Vitor landed a left high kick that made a vertical thing become horizontal. What goes up must come down.

    The Rubber Match

    We have arrived at Belfort’s third title shot in the modern era of the UFC, and the window of opportunity for the ultimate glory of becoming a UFC champion is closing fast. There is a caveat here: In February of 2014, NSAC banned the use of TRT for athletes competing within their jurisdiction. This soon spread like fire across the United States commissions, with the UFC enthusiastically in agreeance, vowing to regulate their own international events to ensure fair contests in the absence of a state regulatory body. Vitor’s fight against the UFC Middleweight Champion came a full 15 months following the ban of TRT, so he was no longer using synthetic testosterone. I personally believe Belfort had a massive challenge ahead of him even if he was on TRT, against a guy as good as Chris Weidman, who had the confidence of somebody who had just dismantled the middleweight GOAT twice, and was coming off a pretty dominant win over Lyoto Machida. Vitor was a decent sized underdog against Weidman, showing just how dominant the champ had been. Vitor had some good success early, avoiding a couple of takedowns and getting a collar tie, landing some really hard uppercuts and hooks in close. Chris ate all of it and kept the pressure on, even blocked a head kick (but still kind of ate it), and eventually took Vitor down with perfect timing. After landing thunder on Vitor for a full 45 seconds, the fight was stopped. And with that, Belfort’s title aspirations were finished. I think it’s fair to say that when you match up their skill sets, this was always going to be a bad matchup for Belfort, and his best chance was to land something early. He always struggled against elite wrestlers, and Weidman was very competent on the feet, and was able to get the fight where he wanted it. 

    Image courtesy of MMA Fighting

    Event: UFC Fight Night 77 | November 7, 2015

    Record Before Fight: 24-11

    Opponent: Dan Henderson

    Opponent’s Ranking: 10 (Light Heavyweight – 205 lbs)

    Result: Win // KO (punches)

    After Vitor and Dan fought for the second time in November of 2013, Dan had gone 2-2 with wins over Shogun and Tim Boetsch, equally as dangerous as he was vulnerable to losing against younger fighters this late into his career. He was 45, and facing Vitor again, who was 7 years younger, and had just beat him 2 years prior. This was seen as a clash of legends without any title or ranking implications, and it saw Vitor as a sizeable favorite, based on the results of their last fight, and most likely the age of Henderson. A lot of fans were picking Vitor but amongst fighters it was more split, with more people thinking Hendo’s power would be the difference. With both possessing ungodly power, both guys looked tentative early on. Two minutes into the first round, Belfort timed Hendo’s footwork as he circled away from Vitor’s left hand, giving him the exact angle he needed to land a left high kick. Hendo tried to duck under it, and block it at the same time, but neither would keep him vertical. This time Belfort didn’t need a lot of follow up shots as Yamasaki stepped in pretty quickly. This would be the last ranked win of his career, as he would go 1-4 in his final five fights, and retire from the sport of MMA after his loss to Lyoto Machida. 

    Uncrowned King: By The Numbers

    Total Ranked Wins: 9

    Total Ranked Opponents: 21

    Total Fights: 41

    Total Points: 35

    The Adoptive Son, The Man, The Fighter

    There is no way I was doing this series without including Vitor Belfort, one of my all time favorite guys to watch, and one that got me excited about the sport in the mid 2000s. Not many fighters rose to prominence in MMA as quickly as he did, and not many were spoken of as highly, irrelative to their accomplishments in their given sport. Vitor Belfort came into fighting as a prodigy of Carlson Gracie, a title only bestowed upon those deserving of walking in the enormous footprints carved into the foundation of MMA by the Gracie family, and specifically filling the shoes crafted by his “adoptive father” Carlson Gracie. Belfort wasn’t just training under a Gracie, but under one who actively preached and encouraged cross-training, and opened up one of the first MMA academies in the early 1990s. This team, formed in West Hollywood, would be the foundation for some of the legendary teams we hear in MMA: American Top Team, Brazilian Top Team, Nova Uniao, and Black House. The fact that these were all founded by Carlson Gracie black belts shows you the level of skill on those mats during the early days. From this environment Belfort was spawned, and won the Brazilian National Jiu Jitsu championships at the age of 17, in both the heavyweight and absolute divisions. He also won bronze at ADCC in 2001, a year before he won his UFC title. From the beginning he was destined for great things, and great things he achieved, and yet the greatness we witnessed, still left us unfulfilled. Perhaps due to the pressure of being the golden boy in the gym or having 38 cornermen throughout his early career, Belfort didn’t quite live up to the expectations those early days set up for him. Although we saw Vitor struggle with Randy at UFC 15, we all thought Belfort would be all the better for it, and to be fair, we were right. We just weren’t right to the extent that we thought we would be. It elevated his game but it made him a different fighter, as he no longer had the confidence of “Victor Gracie”. Not due to any lack of effort or skill, once he lost that aura, he didn’t believe in himself the way he kept believing in his power. This was evident in the way he often fought, looking to take his opponents out in the first round, with his chances of winning diminishing as the rounds wore on. He proved he was durable and tough in his fights against Chuck Liddell, Overeem and Tito, but that same toughness didn’t present itself ubiquitously throughout the years, as well as the desire to win. I think Vitor Belfort will be remembered for his destructive power and explosiveness, willingness to fight the best, and longevity in a sport full of brain damage and bankruptcy. I can’t stress just how much pressure was on Vitor, with some expressing he could go on to be one of the greats in the sport, and they weren’t necessarily wrong, just not quite right. Not to mention he had to uphold the reputation of the mighty Gracies, having his every move gazed upon by wandering eyes. Ultimately I think he was in his absolute peak mentally and physically going into the Anderson Silva fight. To me, I saw a calmness and confidence that I had yet to see from him. The confidence of 1997 Belfort with the skills and experience of the man who knocked out Rich Franklin and Matt Lindland. I will never forget that front kick, as my soul briefly left my body that night, and I believe it’s the night Belfort’s title dreams ended, regardless of the last two times he fought for a belt. Regardless, he fought the best fighters of three generations, beat a lot of them, and knocked some of them seemingly dead. He gave us countless transformations, and some of the most memorable knockouts in modern MMA history. Immortalized you are, Phenom. 

    References

    1. Tapology. “Vitor Belfort (‘The Phenom’): MMA Fighter Page.” Tapology, www.tapology.com/fightcenter/fighters/vitor-belfort-the-phenom. Accessed 14 Apr. 2025.
    2. ShinSplints. “TRT Not Winning Fights in UFC.” Bloody Elbow, 30 June 2013, bloodyelbow.com/2013/06/30/trt-tesosterone-replacement-losing-record-ufc/.
    3. Nswix. “Vitor Belfort.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 7 Apr. 2025, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitor_Belfort.

    *All fight footage used to write this article is copyrighted and owned by Endeavor Group Holdings Inc.

  • A Fighter, Evolved: Joe Lewis

    A Fighter, Evolved: Joe Lewis

     

    As a Martial Artist or Fighter, how do you test the effectiveness of the techniques you learn in training?

    Damage. 

    At least, that’s according to one of the greatest Martial Artists to ever live, Joe Lewis. One night in January of 1970, Joe Lewis’s telephone rang. Hollywood stuntman and student of Lewis, Lee Faulkner was on the other line1.

    Faulkner: I want you to fight in my upcoming event, the United States Karate Championships. 

    Lewis: I’m retired from point fighting, but I will fight if I can wear boxing gloves, and knockouts are allowed.

    Faulkner: If I get you a match, will you do it?

    Lewis: Fine.

    Faulkner: Who do you want to fight?

    Lewis: I want a Shotokan fighter, I don’t like their arrogance. 

    Faulkner: Consider it done.

    Although Lewis didn’t end up fighting a Japanese Shotokan specialist, he did fight, and knockouts were allowed. The contest took place on January 17, 1970 and was called “Pro Team Karate Championships” – the first full contact fight to have a USKA (United States Karate Association) belt on the line. In this context, full contact means punches, kicks, elbows and sweeps are allowed, with only a decision or knockout being ways to end the fight. The event took place in Long Beach, California at the Long Beach Sports Arena. Lewis ended up in the ring with a man named Greg Baines, a Kenpo stylist who was one of the best in the world at that time. Lewis wore boxing gloves and sneakers, while Baines wore gloves but chose to go bare foot6. Joe Lewis adopted a modified Karate stance: bladed with hands down, yet upright and long. Both men showed a great ability to neutralize each other’s kicks so the fight became a boxing match between two karate stylists. They also displayed stance switching, some hip feints, and great defensive movements. After a minute, Lewis established himself as the better of the two. He landed his right hook at will, seemingly baffling the (mostly) linear attacks of Greg Baines. These angles would prove to be trouble for Baines, as Lewis got inside the pocket, and landed yet another huge right hook. Lewis stepped back for a moment while Baines was dazed against the ropes, then went back on the attack, landing a wondrously fluid overhand right. The fight was over in just three minutes.

    A Sense Of Purpose

    When I watched the footage trying to determine where Lewis’s advantages were, it became painstakingly clear: Lewis was the better boxer. He displayed superior hand speed, punching technique, inside fighting, and ring IQ. Additionally, Baines was lacking in the areas where Lewis excelled, widening the gap between them. Had this been a karate match it likely would have been very competitive and yet, Lewis’s commitment to martial arts and willingness to cross train in other arts gave him a massive edge. In that sense, Lewis was ahead of his peers in American Karate – he trained under Bruce Lee and studied several boxers. Along with Bruce’s help, Joe Lewis closely watched Willie Pep for his footwork, Jack Dempsey for his explosiveness, Joe Louis for his inside fighting, and Ali for his tactics and mobility1. He actually trained with Sugar Ray Robinson and another boxer named Joey Orbillo – a less prominent but highly respected professional boxer active during the 1960s1. Lewis told James Lew in a 1981 interview that the double lead hook, which he landed frequently throughout this fight – was shown to him by Bruce Lee himself5. Because of his training with Lee and Lewis’s own personal philosophy, he didn’t believe in limiting himself to one style or specialty. Aside from boxing, Lewis trained in Kenpo, Judo, and even Folkstyle Wrestling7. At the time this contest took place in 1970, zero other promoters were organizing full-contact fights in the United States, and there wasn’t much crosstraining going on in American Karate. In other parts of the world, other forms of “Full-Contact” fighting were flourishing. In Japan, Sumo and Professional Wrestling were (and still are) massively popular, entertaining millions of Japanese fans. An underground movement of Vale Tudo was gaining traction in parts of Brazil throughout the 60s and 70s – culminating into the famous “Desafio” events of the 80s. This was happening at a time in Brazil where some Martial Artists like Marco Ruas decided crosstraining was a good idea – parallel thinking by some of the great minds of Martial Arts. By the time Joe Lewis took part in the first full-contact fight, he was already a decorated Martial Artist, having won both national and world championships as an amateur Karate point fighter. His debut took place in 1966 but by 1969, he was already becoming disillusioned with the rules, and frustrated with the increasing number of fighters winning matches by making little to no impact with their opponent1. Or as Lewis puts it, “a kid waives his foot at your head, and they give him the victory”. When I mentioned Lewis’s advantages against Baines, I was leaving something out. It wasn’t just that his boxing skills were sharper. Joe Lewis was simply a superior fighter – a special kind of athlete, a once in a lifetime talent. He had a unique way of moving and striking, knowing just the right time to launch the right attack. I believe his biggest asset was his mind for fighting. He simply understood positioning, timing, technique, leverage, and body mechanics in a way that few others could. Here is Joe Lewis in the first Professional Karate Championships opposite David Moon. Lewis lands a side kick on Moon, which appears to hurt him. 

    When the fighters reset, Moon switches stances, which was later revealed to be because of broken ribs suffered from the first kick. Lewis gets close and grabs Moon’s lead hand to distract him, then crushes the other side of his abdomen. Moon just couldn’t protect his torso fast enough. 

    One word comes to mind when I watch Lewis throw these kicks.

    DAMAGE.

    Throughout the 1960s, point karate in America was pretty unique. The rule set for the events Lewis were considered “light contact”, and would have been two combatants meeting on a hard floor (often a gymnasium) or large mat, wearing a full Karate uniform, and the parameters would look something like this: no strikes below the waist, full contact with punches and kicks to the body allowed up to the chest, light contact to the head (with “light” being up for interpretation). Fighters would either be bare fisted or with hand wraps, and bare feet. You’ve heard somebody use the term “pulling punches”, and point Karate is partially where that phrase comes from. Fighters would pull back on their punches to avoid making strong contact with the face, and you can see how that way of thinking can quickly lead to either heavier accidental contact, or virtually none. During the 70s and 80s, there were limited rule sets for full contact events:

    Full-Contact: Full contact above the waist, no clinching or throwing, minimum or continual kick requirement (meaning you had to throw a certain number of kicks in the fight, or it would just be boxing). This rule set was considered PKA or American Kickboxing style.

    International: The same as full contact but with low kicks and sweeps added, and no minimum kick requirement. This was considered WKA or freestyle. 

    International rules bouts at that time were closer to K-1 is now, which became so unique and popular throughout the 90s that its rule set became a global standard for kickboxing. In K-1, fighters are allowed to clinch. As of August 2011, S.T.A.R. (Standardized Tournaments and Ratings System) has Joe Lewis’s official full-contact (or kickboxing) record listed as 17-4, with an 80 percent knockout rate. Exhibitions aren’t counted because knockouts aren’t allowed, but I suppose Wally Slocki would have a different opinion on that.

    What Style Really Means

    Joe Lewis was a fighter who could adapt to any opponent or fighting scenario. He fought in small and large rings (or just on hard floor), with or without gloves, in uniform or in trunks. He seemed more likely to fight from an orthodox stance, and at other times (like against Bill Wallace in 1970), he would fight almost entirely from the southpaw position. Like most Karate fighters, he switches stances often and looked for different offensive techniques for each. In Karate it was difficult for anyone to stop his lead leg side kick from orthodox, and in kickboxing, his (double) lead hook from southpaw. He does feint quite a bit but mostly small movements, usually in the hips. Throughout his kickboxing days he regularly used his size and strength. You can see him grab a collar tie on Wally Slocki and use it to land some good inside shots:

    Joe Lewis finishes this fight with a beautiful knee from the clinch. This fight was supposed to be an exhibition but Lewis felt that Wally turned it into a real fight, and responded in kind. Muay Thai hadn’t made it to America yet, making Lewis the first fighter in the country to knock somebody out with a knee.

    In Karate he was an aggressive fighter, and often blitzed with multiple strikes. He did the same in Kickboxing but with few rules limiting the damage he could do, Lewis could pressure fighters with impunity, knowing he was a level above most guys on the scene in those days. He could check kicks really well and due to his dexterity, he could bring his lead leg up incredibly high. Watch him check this middle kick:

    Lewis could fight on the inside, kick from distance, bully guys, or play the matador. In his mind a fighter’s style depends on circumstances such as yours and your opponent’s size, specialty, strengths and weaknesses, and when it comes to environment it depends on factors such as floor type and ring size. He understood that real fighting takes place at any given time, with a variety of different opponents, in vastly different environments. Nobody comprehends that better than a guy that fought in the first full contact match in America with only heavy bag training and roadwork.

    Conclusion

    Joe Lewis had an extraordinary mind for fighting. This was evident in his getting a black belt after only 7 months of training, and competing after only 22 total months of Shorin-ryu Karate to his name. With this knowledge, it’s remarkable what Joe Lewis was able to achieve, and the legacy he left behind. He understood early on that point sparring wasn’t an effective way of measuring skill and ability, and he wanted to progress fighting in America towards something more realistic and practical. Lewis went on to create his own program called the Joe Lewis Fighting System, trained many students, and conducted seminars all over the world. He is consider by many to be the greatest Karate fighter who ever lived. 

    References

    _________________________________________________________

    1. MarktheMartian. “Joe Lewis Talks about Bruce Lee and Kickboxing.” YouTube, 21 Nov. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXdG577px94.
    2. ‌Joe Lewis Lives. “Joe Lewis – What Style Really Means.” YouTube, 7 Jan. 2022, www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiKqWnXoRP0.
    3. ‌The Martial Arts History Channel. “1980s Full Contact Karate Joe Lewis vs Wally Slocki Ends with Vicious Knee to the Head (with Sound).” YouTube, 22 May 2022, www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4F7spuMV4s.
    4. ‌Maslak, Paul. “Standardized Tournaments and Ratings System AUTHENTICATED KICKBOXING RECORD of Joe Lewis.” Backkicks Martial Arts, 23 Nov. 1991.
    5. Maslak, Paul. “Joe Lewis on the Origin of Full-Contact Martial Arts – Martial Arts Encyclopedia.” Backkicks Martial Arts, 3 Nov. 2022, www.backkicks.com/joe-lewis-on-the-origin-of-full-contact-martial-arts.
    6. Joe Lewis (2nd Part) Full-Contact and Kick-Boxing. karate-in-english-lewis-wallace.blogspot.com/2008/09/joe-lewis-2nd-part-full-contact-and.html.
    7. “Joe Lewis (Martial Artist).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Aug. 2024, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Lewis_(martial_artist).

     

  • Bas Rutten | A Modern Samurai

    Bas Rutten | A Modern Samurai

    Disclaimer: Since Bas spent the vast majority of his career fighting in Japan under the banner of Pancrase, he is ineligible to be covered under “The Uncrowned King” series. However, Bas fought and beat many top fighters throughout his career, including a few future UFC champions.

    El Guapo. If there is one name that all die hard fans of MMA and NHB recognize, it’s Bas Rutten. In the 1990s, Bas was the ultimate paragon. No Holds Barred was a brutal form of combat, and Bas was known as a particularly aggressive Dutch Kickboxing stylist. Yet, in a cult sport full of meathead tough guys and performance-enhancing substances, Bas brought honor, discipline, sincerity, and creativity to the ring. We all know that the supreme proving ground for fighters was the Ultimate Fighting Championship, even in the 90s. Although all but three of his 33 fights took place in Pancrase, he ultimately secured UFC Heavyweight gold when he beat Kevin Randleman at UFC 20. Before that, Bas already had wins over the likes of Guy Mezger, Frank Shamrock, Vernon White, Maurice Smith, Jason DeLucia, and Masakatsu Funaki. Bas did have two early losses to Ken Shamrock, but was unable to avenge those losses, as a third fight never materialized. Bas’ achievements in the world of Martial Arts are nothing to sneeze at: 5th Dan black belt in Kyokushin Karate, 2nd Dan black belt in Taekwondo, 1st Dan black belt in Judo, three time King Of Pancrase, and one time UFC Heavyweight Champion. Not too shabby for a guy who couldn’t train consistently until he was an adult because of his parent’s disapproval, and had zero ground training when he debuted in Pancrase. Not only did he exclusively have kickboxing experience when he transitioned to No Holds Barred, but he lived in Holland, which was known for its kickboxing academies, not its wrestling or jiu jitsu schools. He is well known for his punishing knees, and crushing low kicks. His liver attacks were so accurate and destructive that he may as well have patented any strike to that area, insomuch as Bas’ liver shots were as dangerous and effective as any fighter we have ever seen, past or present. Unlike “The Uncrowned King” works, I will not be covering all of Bas’s wins. I have selected a few of Bas’s individual fights to cover, in order to demonstrate the fighting prowess and tactical genius of El Guapo. 

    Pancrase

    Before we talk about any of Bas’s fights, it’s important to note that his first 31 fights were fought under a ruleset unique to Pancrase. This organization pre-dates the UFC and its early format was derived heavily from professional wrestling, since its founders Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki were catch wrestling practitioners. I’m not going to list all of the original rules, but I will talk about a few notable ones:

    1. No elbows 
    2. No closed fist strikes to the head
    3. Five “rope escapes” are given to each fighter in each fight. If one person grabs the ropes, the fight is reset on the feet in the center of the ring. 
    4. Round times vary based on the format (standard bout, title bout, tournament bout) but as a whole, fights were one round. 

    I have read multiple sources that say early Pancrase rules consisted of one 15 minute round for non-title bouts and one 30 minute round for title bouts. Tournament fights would have been one 10 minute round plus one overtime. However, Bas has gone on record saying his early fights were all 30 minute rounds, which is what Tapology has documented. With that being said, there are a couple of important things to mention regarding the rules. In PRIDE, if their fighters got entangled in the ropes, the fight would be reset in the middle of the ring, with both fighters being placed in the same position. In Pancrase, if there is a rope escape or the action is taking place too close to the ropes, the fight is reset in the center of the ring. However, instead of them being put in the same position (if on the ground), the two fighters are stood up as they are at the beginning of the round. This rule benefits strikers, and it certainly aided Bas in some of his fights, although as you will see, it also hurt him at times. He admittedly had very little ground training early in his career, and was repeatedly taken down and controlled by wrestlers. But as far as striking is concerned, Bas was on another level. The other thing worth mentioning is while there were strikes allowed on the ground, they were discouraged by fans, and went relatively unused in Pancrase’s early days. Bas himself stated that he did not strike on the ground due to the perception at the time, but if his opponent did so, he then reciprocated. 

    The Basics

    Organizations: Pancrase, UFC

    Weight Class: Heavyweight, Openweight

    Years Active: 1993-1999, 2006

    MMA Record: 28-4-1

    There is a lot of interesting information written about Bas and even spoken by the man himself, as his career is well documented. However, I will only be scratching the surface here. Bas Rutten started competing in Kickboxing in 1985, going 14-2, with all of his wins by knockout. All of his fights were in Holland, which comprises part of the Western region of the Netherlands. He eventually had trouble finding fights, and subsequently worked as a bouncer and entertainer during the late 80s and early 90s. Dutch wrestler Chris Dolman was impressed by Bas’ physical abilities, and invited Bas to train at the RINGS Holland Dojo. Bas accepted and while he was training there in 1993, Japanese Pro Wrestlers Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki scouted him, after seeing him knock out a certain unnamed RINGS fighter. In September of the same year, he made his debut.

    The Arrival

    Bas Rutten’s first fight in Pancrase was against pro wrestler turned fighter Ryushi Yanagisawa, who was also making his professional fighting debut. Bas originally thought he was going to fight 5×3 rounds, likely because of his background in Muay Thai. He was told the fight would be one 30 minute round. Yanagisawa opens with a rear low kick and when Bas counters with his own, Ryushi returns fire with a lead low kick. What followed from Bas was the right-side combination of a rear high kick that was blocked, then a right hand behind it. Bas first pawed his lead hand out, making Yanagisawa think about a lead side attack. Then Bas turned his hips and uncorked a right cross, uncoiling and driving forward like an aqueous machine, which then pulled back and constricted its wires, relaxing instinctively. 

    Yanagisawa fell over on his side and put his left hand up to his own face, checking for blood, seemingly in shock. Since Pancrase had ten counts, Ryushi got back up as the count was nearing its end, still dazed from the blow. The fight restarted and Bas immediately went on the offensive. He launched a lead liver kick, a right hook to the head, and went for the killshot. That would be a step-in rear knee to Yanagisawa’s head. Bas took the tiniest step to the left with his lead foot to create a different angle, and his leg rose up from the ground like a serpent, striking Ryushi’s left temple. When Bas threw the strike, the angle of his leg is such that it initially appears as though he is throwing a high kick, but instead lands the knee, widening the angle of his two legs like a Japanese war fan. Yanagisawa fell straight back on his tailbone, partially catching himself with his left elbow. 

    For a moment he tries to stand up but within a millisecond, he falls back and his head lands on the canvas, his body sprawled out on the mat. Bas checks on his opponent, who laid for a minute and eventually got up, with help. Not only did Bas win in 43 seconds, but he made that night the international debut of the Rutten Jump (which is a jumping split kick that he had certainly performed many times before), much to the crowd’s delight. He then followed that up with two front kicks, and ended it with a 360 degree round kick. The Bas Rutten era had begun. 

    Don’t Breathe

    Bas Rutten’s debut lasted 43 seconds. With his first fight in Japan out of the way, he didn’t want to waste too much time here, either. When he was fighting in Holland, he was known for being overly aggressive, and used brute force to knock guys out. In Pancrase, Rutten became a more focused and calculated fighter, living up to the technical ability that he displayed in the gym. Bas says this was likely due to his personal growth, as well as the respectful fight audience in Japan. Takaku was another 1-0 fighter, having made quick work of Vernon White by submitting him at Pancrase 1. After Fuke snatches a quick single leg there are a few brief scrambles, and Bas uses Fuke’s armbar attempt to get on top. Fuke, having never let go of Bas’s left arm, hooks his right leg or Bas’s left shoulder and turns his belly down, cranking on another armbar. Bas is unable to step over Fuke’s body to relieve the pressure and decides to drag him towards the ropes, while his arm is being cranked, and unbelievably, achieves a rope escape. After Fuke takes Rutten down again and looks for another armbar, Bas is able to get up, and this spells the beginning of the end for Takaku. As he drives his head forward into Bas to take him down, Bas grabs hold of a double collar tie, and lands a hard knee to the solar plexus. He looks for a guillotine and his corner yells “knee!”, to which he obliges, and shockingly lands the same knee he landed on Yanigisawa. Rutten was so locked in that instead of committing to the choke, he saw giant red flashing crosshairs on Fuke’s liver, and slammed his left knee into it. 

    The Shorts

    After a disappointing loss to Funaki in his last fight, Bas’s record dropped to 2-1. As the title above would indicate, This is Bas’s first fight without his patented pink (then faded and purple-looking) shorts. He loved these fight trunks, but Pancrase didn’t like them as much as he did. This was likely due to their bright color, and their use in Muay Thai, as opposed to the pro wrestling underwear worn by his Pancrase counterparts. Now sporting briefs, Rutten will face Vernon “Tiger” White – a fighter with perhaps a more questionable record than Bas’s previous opponents, coming in at 1-5. But Vernon, like Bas, had been another guy with a striking background, who was thrown into Pancrase with no experience fighting, and suffered losses against fighters with catch wrestling backgrounds, who took him down and submitted him. Tiger had a background in Taekwondo and displayed a great variety of kicks in his fights, but wasn’t adept at using palm strikes the way Bas was. White opened with a couple of low kicks, one outside, then one inside. Bas countered with a rear teep that whipped into Vernon’s stomach. Vernon didn’t like the way that felt – and immediately shot for a double leg takedown. 

    Bas sprawls and after a scramble, he goes hunting for a leg. The referee broke them up, likely due to how close Bas was to the ropes, and the two fighters stand back up. Vernon really didn’t like how hard Bas hit because he was looking for takedowns any time they exchanged in close. The second time this happened, Bas latched up a front headlock, and clamped down on White’s leg so he couldn’t escape the half guard position. Bas gripped tightly and cranked, his elbows pointed outward, his frame parallel to Vernon’s own. A few seconds later Vernon tapped, and Bas got in a full four Rutten Jumps before White was able to stand up. That’s a wrap. 

    A Clash Of Legends

    By the time Bas faced this next opponent, he had amassed a record of 6-2, with his only losses being to Ken Shamrock and Funaki. It’s no secret that Bas struggled with wrestlers, but he was improving quickly. At Pancrase 13, Rutten fought none other than Frank Shamrock. Nowadays we all know Frank as the brother of Ken, and as a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, WEC Light Heavyweight Champion, and Strikeforce Middleweight Champion. However, in December of 1994, Frank was in Tokyo making his debut against a dangerous striker. This is a tough first fight for anyone to say the least, and in retrospect seems unfair, but Frank was more than up for the challenge. In the first 20 seconds of the fight, Shamrock gets a blast double and drives Bas across the ring. Frank is able to achieve half guard before Bas uses his hips to elevate his right side, turns to his left and continues forward motion, pushing Frank to his back, and landing in half guard. Bas briefly considers an arm triangle and abandons it, and Frank reverses him nearly the same way he was reversed, and falls into Bas’s half guard. In modern Mixed Martial Arts, this next sequence would make hardcore fans scream in agony. Bas once again reverses Frank, takes his back, has a rear naked choke fully locked in, and the referee breaks up the action because Bas’s head was under the rope. 

    Once Shamrock takes him down again, Bas is able to get another reversal, and has Frank in trouble for a few seconds. At this point Frank is on bottom stretched out, Bas is on top and perpendicular to his body, with his legs straightened out, and his left arm wrapped around the back of Frank’s head. This is called a scarf hold position. Bas pulls Shamrock’s head towards his chest and looks for a neck crank, putting pressure on his spinal cord. In his own commentary Bas says he was looking to attack his arm as well, so perhaps he was looking to transition to an armbar or straight elbow lock.

    Frank counters by clasping his hands between his own head and Bas’s, stopping Bas from pulling his head all the way forward. Eventually Shamrock rolls to his feet. After a takedown by Frank and a few scrambles, Rutten attempts another rear naked choke, which results in him being mounted. On the feet Bas is doing damage, but he is ultimately taken down for his troubles, and most of this fight plays out on the ground. The fight ends with Rutten on top of Shamrock, landing some shots that aren’t necessarily punishing, but are pretty solid. Since this fight was a tournament bout in the first round of the King Of Pancrase Tournament, it was only one 10 minute round. Once the final bell rings, the fighters patiently await the judges decision, while Bas is looking for a contact lens that he lost. Bas recruits Frank to help him locate the missing contact before Shamrock is awarded a majority decision, which is something I ultimately disagree with. 

    You would think that since most of this fight took place on the ground, Shamrock getting the decision would be a no-brainer (because that’s where he wants it). However, like modern MMA, I think the judges were awarding the wrestler, younger brother of Ken Shamrock and potential future star, while favoring control and takedowns over damage and aggression. Watching the fight, it wasn’t a particularly difficult decision for me to make when picking Bas, as he landed hard on the feet. Once the two were on the ground, Bas was constantly on the attack, got on top of Frank several times, and had multiple submission attempts that were pretty close to being finishes. I counted five reversals for Bas in this bout, which is pretty impressive, considering he hadn’t been training on the ground for long. This would mark Bas’s third career loss, bringing him to a record of 6-3.

    The Rematch

    In March of 1995, just three months after the loss to Frank Shamrock, Bas was submitted by his brother Ken Shamrock again, using a defense that he thought would work. As a result of training with Funaki, he was overconfident, resulting in Ken surprising him with a painful kneebar. This ignited a fire in Bas, and he vowed to become a submission master so that he never fell victim to one again. He would respond to this loss by spending every waking (and unwaking) moment obsessing over submissions. Bas personally attested to putting his own wife into submission holds in the middle of the night while still asleep, putting illustrations of them all over his walls, and creating different variations of set ups and submissions to make them his own unique weapons. Consequently, Bas rattled off three impressive wins over Fuke, Smith and DeLucia, all by submission. By this time Bas was so feared standing up that his opponents tried to take him down and upon doing so, would find out that he’s just as dangerous on the ground. All of these events led to a rematch against Frank Shamrock, one that Bas desired greatly. This rematch took place in July of 1995, which tells you how active Pancrase fighters were in those days. 

    Shamrock opens with an overhand right that lands. He catches a teep that Bas makes contact with, and starts the second fight like he did the first one. This time Bas takes a different approach, gaining wrist control on both hands, with Frank being able to shake free. After about two minutes of control time and minimal damage, the referee stands them up. For all of Bas’s work disguising his kicks, Shamrock sure loves catching them, and is exceptional at doing so. Any periods of striking in this fight are brief, none lasting more than 30 seconds. At one point on the ground Bas reverses Frank. Inside of Shamrock’s full guard, Bas reaches and pulls his head off the mat, towards his own chest. Nowadays this looks more like a can opener to get the bottom guy to open his guard, in this case it’s clear that Bas is looking for a neck crank. Similar to the one he was looking for in their first matchup, but from a different position. Shamrock tries to stand up and Bas rolls for a leg lock, then transitions into a kneebar attempt. Right as he is about to have Frank in big trouble, his foot touches the rope and the fight is stood up. 

    About halfway through the fight, Bas opens his guard and kicks Shamrock off of him to stand up – an action that gets him a respectful bow from Shamrock. A later takedown sees Bas attack the legs again, with Frank fully stretched out in a kneebar before the two are stood up, again. Once they are back on the ground, Bas nearly locks in a triangle choke from the bottom before losing leg position and hearing the bell ring. The frustration is evident on the face of Bas, but the fight is over. As the fighters are waiting for the judge’s decision, you can hear Bas say “10 more seconds”, indicating that’s all the time he needed to get a finish over Shamrock. Bas has been on record many times saying that the rules in Pancrase regarding the ropes really bothered him to no end, and if he was allowed to keep the position until we saw a tap, that he would have more submissions on his record. He also said that he and Frank were friends, and spent a lot of time together in Japan. What’s interesting about this is that I felt Bas clearly won both fights. Although he was taken down at will in this fight, like the first one, he was the more aggressive fighter, and came closer to getting a stoppage than Frank did. Shamrock also improved on the feet, as he landed some good shots throughout the course of the fight, even taunting Bas, baiting him to throw something so Frank could get an opening for a takedown. I’m not going to pretend that these fights weren’t competitive though, because they were both close. For as little time as these two spent on the feet in their first matchup, they spent even less time standing in this contest. Bas wasn’t thrilled with his performance, but he was happy to get this one back. 

    Lion’s Den Continued

    Bas Rutten had a lot of fights in the 90s. Pancrase had their rule set centered on ring action, but also wanted to limit injuries, so that they could compete with pro wrestling programming. Therefore in a span of 31 months, Bas had 20 fights. In his 19th professional fight, Rutten faced Guy Mezger at Pancrase 26. Guy of course was (mostly) known for winning two alternate bouts in the UFC, at UFC 4 and UFC 5, respectively. He had both a wrestling and kickboxing background (along with other arts). The former was during high school, and the latter had him competing as a professional as late as 1995, the year he made his Pancrase debut. He had cross trained quite a bit and joined The Lion’s Den, which made Guy a unique opponent for Bas – a fighter who was dangerous both on the feet and on the ground. Out of all of the Bas fights I’m covering here, Guy was by far the most accomplished striker, and the most competitive with Bas on the feet. Bas seemed more weary of Guy’s ground game, as he felt he could beat anyone standing up (and rightfully so). Mezger was able to take Bas down early. As Guy gets double underhooks, Bas secures double overhooks, and Mezger uses those hooks to pull Bas nearly off the ground towards Guy’s own head, then uses that momentum to drive forward, taking Bas off of his feet. Mezger is able to stay in side control for a while, looking to isolate Bas’s left arm. He eventually takes mount and Bas recovers full guard, then the fight is reset. An aggressive Rutten rolls for a leg lock while they are standing and it costs him a position. This fight, like both fights against Frank Shamrock, consist of lots of ground exchanges, followed by brief segments of striking. The striking itself was very competitive in this fight, with the left hook being Bas’s best weapon. Mezger was mixing it up well with low kicks, knees, and some body punches. 

    The body work was impressive, as nobody had been able to work the body or legs the way Guy did. This certainly paid dividends for Mezger, as Bas was visibly tired later in the fight, and Guy was arguably winning for a large portion of the contest. I feel like Bas’s advantage in striking was the fact that he was dangerous from all distances, whereas Guy had a variety of techniques and was landing good shots, but couldn’t comfortably strike at every range without worrying about counters. Bas also had a power advantage and didn’t seem to be phased by anything Guy was landing. Mezger did not strike on the ground but had several takedowns, each lasting at least 2-3 minutes on the canvas. Although they both had success with low kicks, they both showed competent low kick defense, sporadically checking the other’s attacks. At almost 18 minutes into the fight, Guy had his knee on Bas’s belly, and Rutten looked tired. He was discouraged from the takedowns, and his hand was injured. That wasn’t enough to stop him though, as the fight was reset and he went on the attack. Guy took him down and immediately starting fishing for his right leg. As Mezger went for a kneebar, Bas grabbed Guy’s right ankle. This was during a period of time when heel hooks were banned in Pancrase, because of the frequency of injuries. This meant that we saw more guys looking for straight kneebars and/or ankle locks. There is a huge difference between a heel hook and a toe hold. While both involve some level of foot control and torque, a heel hook requires complete control of the foot, while a toe hold is more isolated to the front half of the foot, away from the ankle. Since I’m not a Jiu Jitsu guy, I don’t want to go any further. Instead, I will put some pictures here, and let you look up these submissions yourself.

    Here’s what a heel hook looks like:

    Here’s a toe hold:

    Countering the De La Riva with a Quick Toe Hold – BJJ Fanatics

    As Guy tries to stand and pull his foot out, Bas takes the ankle he has control of and uses both hands to twist it to his right, almost at a 45 degree angle. Mezger screamed out in agony, which would normally be considered a verbal tap. However, Bas let go of the submission and upon doing so, Guy tapped on the mat, and the referee confirmed his decision to stop fighting. If you look at the images above, you will see that what Bas Rutten did was more of a toe hold, as opposed to an ankle lock, which is what his official record says. Either way, Bas continues the trend of submitting fighters who are supposed to be better than him at submissions. 

    The Rubber Match

    I thought about covering the third Frank Shamrock fight, but I didn’t think it would be fun for myself or anyone else to write about three fights against the same guy. El Guapo had multiple rematches during his Pancrase career, as there were only so many heavyweights fighting in Japan at that time. One of such rematches was Jason DeLucia, for a third time. Having fought twice before, they were familiar with each other, but both fights ended quickly, Bas claiming victory by submission early in each of those contests. This time these two got to know each other a little bit, and it made for an entertaining and unusual affair. Jason opens with some nice side kicks and low kicks, and Bas counters with a rear body kick, followed by a closed fist punch. According to Bas, he was training to punch in the high chest area, and hit Jason in the throat. It appeared to land on his chin but could have hit his throat, but DeLucia’s hand is sort of blocking the view.

    Keep in mind that closed fist strikes were illegal only when landed to the head, so if it landed elsewhere, it would have been perfectly legal. Bas received a warning from the referee, and the action continued. Rutten liked to challenge himself in different ways in some of his fights. In this one, he told his corner he wanted to let the fight go on 15 minutes, then try to knock DeLucia out. That didn’t go quite according to plan, and pretty soon you’ll see why. In this fight it’s clear Jason took some lessons from their first two meetings, because he’s very aggressive, and is putting his punches and kicks together really well. 

    Bas is able to check some of the low kicks and do some good body work with right and left combinations. What’s notable with respect to the striking is that as Bas is covering up, DeLucia is looking to land shots around and in between his guard. It’s when Jason allows Bas to come forward, that Bas is able to cover ground and do some damage. About halfway through Jason gets a takedown and achieves mount, but gets stood up after a period of inactivity. In another exchange, Jason complains that Bas punched him in the face with a closed fist. If you watch it back, it appears to land in the upper chest area, near the clavicle bone, which would be legal. 

    It’s hard to tell, but since I don’t see DeLucia’s head move from the impact, I’m taking Bas’s word for it that it landed below the head. Regardless, Rutten is given a yellow card, which means a point is being taken from him. Less than a minute after this occurs, Bas lands a right straight to the solar plexus. He follows with another. DeLucia again claims Bas hit him in the head with a closed fist, even though it’s painfully obvious he didn’t.

    Bas is given a red card, which deducts two points from his score, if this fight goes to the judges. Rutten is visibly angry, and who wouldn’t be, particularly a competitor who holds himself to the standards that Bas does. In his own commentary, Bas states that at this point he wanted to take DeLucia out. What’s interesting is, the referee has no way of confirming the foul, but punishes Rutten for it anyways. El Guapo ups his tempo, at one point pushing Jason against the ropes, causing him to get thrown across the ring, almost falling. Bas then took advantage of a flaw in DeLucia’s defense, landing a right cross-left hook to the body combination, one he landed earlier in the fight. Jason falls backwards into the corner of the ring. He stands up on the eight count. Bas decided he doesn’t need head shots at all for this one. He drops Jason again quickly with a round kick to the body. DeLucia again cries foul, claiming the kick was low. 

    I think the referee is aware of Jason’s tactic now, and shows him where the kick landed, on his left hip. Bas begrudgingly shakes his hand, and this handshake precedes the next knockdown by a mere 5 seconds. Jason is back up again. More punishing body work from El Guapo. Surprisingly DeLucia doesn’t drop his hands, and Bas lands the final blows. He flashes the right hand in his face, forces him to defend, and comes around the guard with a final left-hook to the liver. Don’t piss off Bas Rutten. 

    The King

    By this time, Bas Rutten was a star in Japan. He had submitted Suzuki at the 1995 Pancrase Anniversary show to become the King Of Pancrase, and he unified, as well as defended that belt against Frank Shamrock when he fought him for the third time. His fight against DeLucia that we just analyzed, was not a title fight. However, this next one is. After brutalizing the liver of Jason DeLucia, Rutten looked to defend his King Of Pancrase title in a rematch against Funaki. Their first time meeting was in 1994, and it was Bas’s third professional NHB fight. Just 3 minutes into that fight, Funaki had him mounted, and cranked his right leg with a heel hook, forcing Bas to accept defeat. This time around, things would be different. Bas was a completely different fighter now, and he was ready to prove it. Bas was 18-4 coming into this one, and the biggest factor in this fight was the progression of Rutten’s ground game. For a lot of the fight, Funaki employed various tactics to initiate his leg attacks – leg-on-belly, leg-on-chest, and later on even pressing his shin bones onto Bas’s shoulders to attempt a kneebar. Bas had to survive a heel hook that had him in serious trouble, turning his leg away from him, his leg and body at nearly a 90-degree angle. He withstood it by pulling Funaki’s legs toward him, trying to relieve the pressure being activated by Funaki’s hips. 

    For the rest of the fight, Funaki was able to get Bas down with relative ease, but never came close to locking anything in. In fact Bas later uses these leg attacks to get up and push away from Funaki, looking to do some striking damage. One thing I noticed about Bas is that he has great timing – he anticipates when his opponent is about to strike, and he strikes first, landing on them before they are ready for it. We see this in spades here, and Funaki is unable to land anything significant. By around 14 minutes or so, Funaki is showing signs of fatigue, and Rutten takes advantage of it. He lands two consecutive right hooks in a row. 

    Funaki falls down, hands covering his face. Once the fight is restarted, Funaki immediately shoots as Bas collapses space between them, and lands a hard palm strike (hammer palm) to an exhausted Funaki on the ground. He is unable to get up right away so it counts as another knockdown. Funaki is clearly hurt but that doesn’t stop him from getting up. After a brief break for a rope escape, Bas feints a right knee and delivers a painful mixture of strikes – left hook, rear uppercut, left hook, and right cross. For the third time, Funaki is down again, only this time the fearless Japanese wrestler somehow recovers even faster, getting up before the ref reaches six seconds. The final exchange of the fight lasts for about 20 seconds, with Bas throwing everything in his arsenal, and it is absolutely brutal. 

    At one point Bas holds Funaki’s head with his left hand and throws an overhand right, but because of the space between them, the right hand ends up being a stabbing punch, like Rutten was impaling him with a sword right through his temple. Funaki can barely move at this point, after being exhausted and made to be a human punching bag. The final shot was a rear knee. Out of desperation, Funaki grabs a single collar tie and as he does so, Bas’s right knee meets his head with extraordinary force. Merciless. Bas ranks this as the single greatest performance of his career, outlasting the Golden Boy of Pancrase by dragging him into deep waters, just like he said he would. 

    When all was said and done for Bas Rutten, he retired in 1999 at the young age of 34. He would have one last fight in 2006 but ultimately, he had too many injuries to continue fighting. He started a successful career commentating in PRIDE FC and WSOF, acted in some movies, wrote some books, created some training equipment, and always finds a way to keep himself busy. His unbeaten streak of 22 fights following his second loss to Ken is one of the great runs in MMA history, and it’s crazy to think that 21 of those fights came in just 4 short years. Bas Rutten was ahead of his time in a brutal freakshow sport, a terrifying man who would pulverize your liver into dust with his fist, then visit you in the hospital the next day. He was a thinking man amongst his contemporaries, who could read your patterns, figure you out, and find a way to finish you. In his first fight against Fuke, he timed his knee right as Fuke was breathing in, knowing that a fully tensed midsection could not take that sort of blunt force trauma without collapsing. Bas was fearless in ways most of us cannot imagine, even when he was out of his comfort zone. He wasn’t afraid to try new things and in fact tirelessly pursued methods and moves not yet conceived, not just for their uniqueness, but for their functionality. In May of 1994, the day before Bas fought Kazuo Takahashi, he was walking the streets of Japan. He saw a massive screen on the side of a building promoting Pancrase, and playing some of the fight footage from recent events. While he is standing on side of the road, Rutten watches this play, and sees a fighter going for an inverted heel hook. He says to himself “I gotta try that”. The next night he fights Takahashi, tries the move he saw on the screen, and ended up breaking his leg with it. 

    We’ve all heard the term “Ronin” before – A Samurai without a master. In Feudal Japan this was considered shameful, and at times meant the samurai had no ties to his family or clan. The broader, more philosophical way of describing this concept is a wanderer or free person who finds their own way without belonging to a single master or place. The term Ronin describes Bas better than any other word I can imagine – a man armed with the sword of the desire for combat. With a comprehension of fighting above most of his time period, Bas moved around to different academies, collecting useful data. When he didn’t find anything valuable, he simply scrapped the superfluous, went elsewhere, and sharpened his sword. His corners consisted of his manager and a rotating door of fighters and athletes he discovered during his training sessions. Ultimately Bas always was (and still is) a man living of his own accord, looking for his own path in the debris around him. 

    Shout Outs

    Professor Jason Diaz of Ohana Academy for helping me understand the differences between a heel hook and a toe hold.


    Mike Davis and Chris Lytle of the Lytes Out Podcast. Their interviews with Bas were a tremendous help in writing this article. 

    References

    ——————————————————————————————-

    1. Bas Rutten. (2011, March 21). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bas_Rutten
    2. (hdmexiqtioner). Tapology | Bas Rutten. Tapology. https://www.tapology.com/fightcenter/fighters/bas-rutten-el-guapo
    3. (n.d.). Bas Rutten. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/@OfficialBasRutten
    4. L. O. (2023, January 10). Pancrase Years Deep Dive. YouTube. https://youtu.be/uuiI0gGz060?si=lyMLNw0ON5Eyd00D
  • The Rise of Brazilian Muay Thai Part II | A Hero’s Journey

    The Rise of Brazilian Muay Thai Part II | A Hero’s Journey

    The Torchbearer

    In 1979, a Brazilian martial artist traveled along the coastline of Brazil and beyond, on a quest to spread the art of Muay Thai. That man was Taekwondo black belt and Muay Thai ambassador Flavio Molina. Starting in his hometown of Rio De Janeiro, Flavio spread Muay Thai across cities such as Sao Paolo, Salvador, Fortaleza, and Brasilia. After a few years of spreading Muay Thai across Brazil and competing in Taekwondo, Flavio organized the first Muay Thai competitions in his home country. The first took place in 1982 and pitted Rio De Janeiro vs. Curitiba, which Molina competed in. Another took place in 1983 when Rio fighters took on guys from Sao Paolo.[4] Although it’s unclear how many times Flavio competed under a Muay Thai rule set, it’s clear he was a great teacher. In the early 80s, Flavio started working with Marco Ruas. You may remember Marco from the first part of this series, where we talked about him pulverizing Paul Varelans with leg kicks. In 1984, Molina and his team at Academia Naja were invited to participate in the now-famous event in Rio De Janeiro called “Jiu Jitsu vs. Martial Arts”. He would go on to train Marco along with Eugenio Tadeu, both guys being first-generation Brazilian Muay Thai fighters. All three guys would compete that night in 1984, with Flavio being handed the only loss on the team.[4] Flavio would continue to coach Marco Ruas throughout the 80s. He even started training in Luta Livre, becoming the main training partner of his own students.[4] Being a man of many talents such as lifeguard and air rescue specialist, Flavio Molina sadly passed away in 1998 while participating in a rescue training program, leaving behind a massive legacy.[4] Now that we’ve talked about what Flavio Molina has done for Brazilian Muay Thai, we can safely ask, why did he do it? After learning the art and completely immersing himself in it for two years, he certainly had the desire to teach it to as many people as possible. In addition, there was another force pulling him in that direction. This mysterious force was another Rio martial artist by the name of Nelio “Naja” Borges De Souza.

     Flavio Molina circa 1982. Photo courtesy of BJJ Heroes.

    A Hero’s Journey

    And when I say “mysterious”, it is not a word to be taken lightly, being that Nelio is as enigmatic as any martial arts teacher of the 1970s. Grandmaster Nelio was a man born in Rio De Janeiro, in 1952.[3] Not much is known about his childhood or personal life, and some of the details of the period between 1970 and 1978 are in question, but we do know that Nelio was the first man in Brazil to learn and teach Muay Thai. It is at this point I will concede that deep into my research of Nelio Naja, I discovered that the original timeline of events I constructed was completely wrong. Furthermore, I also learned that the manner by which he learned Muay Thai is uncertain, and dubious at best. In scouring the web for as much information as I could about Nelio, I stumbled upon an article titled “He Himself Told It: Nelio Naja, The Production Of a Myth”, posted by a Brazilian archive website named Scielo Brazil. The article is a study published in 2020 and cites various journals, essays and books to attempt to dissect the stories told by Nelio Naja, specifically regarding the genesis of Brazilian Muay Thai. This topic is significant in itself so we will not dive deeply into it, but if you are interested in learning about the stories surrounding Nelio, this article is fantastic and you can read it here. In short, the study presents three potential narratives for explaining how Nelio learned Muay Thai. Here are all three: 

    Narrative One – This is a commonly repeated story and the one you will see most often when you look up Nelio’s name. The tale is that Nelio served in the Brazilian Air Force as a paratrooper and during his tenure, he traveled to South Asia and became fascinated with Asian culture. This experience inspired him to travel to Bangkok and live there for two years after he was discharged from the military. During his time in Thailand, he learned Muay Thai and fell in love with it. He then came back to Brazil, settled in Curitiba, and taught Muay Thai there. The known (or most universally accepted) timeline would put his military service sometime between 1970 and 1972 – although this conflicts with his Taekwondo Master Woo Jae Lee’s account of training Nelio for the first time in Rio De Janeiro in 1972. On top of that, when Scielo contacted BINFA (Brazilian Air Force Infantry Battalion), they were informed that Nelio did not serve in the Air Force at all and that no international missions took place until the 1990s.[1] 

    Narrative Two: According to Welington Narany, Fabio Noguchi, and Rudimar Fedrigo (all a big part of the Brazilian Muay Thai scene), Nelio’s family met a Thai man in Curitiba who needed a place to live and subsequently stayed in their family house. These events led to the Thai man teaching Nelio the art of Muay Thai. How long this mysterious man lived in their house is unknown, and so is the influence he had on Nelio.[1]

    Narrative Three: Nelio learned Muay Thai techniques through an Anime called Kick No Oni (“Demon Of The Kick”). This particular show followed a Karateka named Tadashi Sawumara who challenged a Thai boxer to a fight, and lost. Upon losing the fight, Sawamura dedicated himself to Muay Thai and became a master of the discipline. Rudimar, Wellington, Sandro Lustosa, and Augusto Cunha specified that Nelio was influenced by this anime, as it was seminal in Brazil during the late 1970s. The proposed theory is that by watching this show over and over again, Nelio learned the techniques, practiced and refined them, until he knew them well enough to teach them.[1]

    Nelio is pictured on the right. Photo Courtesy of Bloody Elbow.

    A Grandmaster Never Reveals His Methods

    There is a lot more to the story that I won’t cover here. The founding of Brazilian Muay Thai involved a very small community specific to Rio De Janeiro and Curitiba from 1976 to 1980. What is not in dispute is that Nelio Naja started training in Taekwondo in 1972 at the Frama Academy located in Aterro do Flemengo (“Flamengo Park”), a neighborhood in the southeast tip of Rio De Janeiro.[1] We also know from Woo Jae Lee that he awarded Nelio his black belt in 1976.[1] This gives Nelio roughly two years or so to have learned Muay Thai techniques well enough to teach them. By 1978 he would have a handful of disciples, which led to Flavio opening the Naja Academy in September of the same year.[2] Nelio has stated that the Brazilian Muay Thai lineage starts with Flavio, and entrusted him to teach the art throughout the country of Brazil. Another anecdote of Nelio came from his own Taekwondo master. Lee described Nelio as “Demonstrating discipline and performing the positions perfectly”, alluding to Nelio’s extraordinary learning ability, and quality of technique.[1] None of the accounts I have read contained a single grain of doubt with regards to Naja’s level of skill, technique, and ability to teach, as it relates to either Taekwondo or Muay Thai. Whatever Nelio did to learn Muay Thai – whether he summoned an ancient spirit, or rewound a VHS tape 500 times to refine his techniques; he is referred to by those of his lineage as “The Father of Brazilian Muay Thai”. Nelio spent the last fifteen years of his life as a recluse and in 2018 he was found dead in his home, an unfinished house in Almirante Tamandare, Curitiba. His cause of death has not been revealed.[6]

    While Flavio, Ruas, and many other fighters were busy cross-training in other disciplines throughout the 80s to grow and improve as martial artists – roughly twelve hours away in Curitiba, an even bigger pot was bubbling. That pot would be Chute Boxe Academy, opened by Nelio’s standout student Rudimar Fedrigo in 1978. In the next part of this series, we will discuss Chute Boxe Academy and the impact it had on fighting in the 90s and 2000s. 

    References

    ________________________________________________________________________________________

    1. Muller, I. L., & Capraro, A. M. (2020). “HE TOLD IT HIMSELF”: NÉLIO NAJA, THE PRODUCTION OF A MYTH. SciELO Brazil, 26. https://doi.org/10.22456/1982-8918.99251
    2. “Entrevista NéLio Naja.” YouTube, uploaded by PrimeiroRound, 6 May 2010, www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6Gu45WnHA&t=100s.
    3. “Nélio Naja.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 3 May 2023, pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%A9lio_Naja.
    4. “Flávio Molina.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 3 May 2023, pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fl%C3%A1vio_Molina.
    5. Alonso, Eduardo. “Interview with Pele Landi.” Full Contact Fighter, 23 Nov. 2001, fcfighter.com/interview-with-pele-landi/.
    6. “NéLio Naja, Introducer of Muay Thai in Brazil, Dies.” Globo Esporte, 12 Jul. 2018, ge.globo.com/pr/noticia/morre-nelio-naja-introdutor-do-muay-thai-no-brasil.ghtml.
  • The Rise Of Brazilian Muay Thai | Leg Meat

    The Rise Of Brazilian Muay Thai | Leg Meat

    Disclaimer One: For the purpose of honoring the time period for which this article covers, we will refer to Mixed Martial Arts in the United States as No-Holds-Barred, or simply NHB. We will also refer to Martial Arts Competitions in Brazil from the 1960s to 1990s as Vale Tudo.

    Disclaimer Two: This article may seem to end abruptly, but it is only the first part in a multi-part series on how Brazilian Muay Thai made its way to America.

    UFC 7 took place on September 8, 1995. At this time, the sport that would later become known as Mixed Martial Arts was in its infancy. Commonly referred to as “No-Holds-Barred”, “Vale Tudo”, or even “Bare Knuckle Fighting”, this form of professional fighting was unique – it had very few rules. In fact, just one year prior at UFC 3, a referee stoppage was allowed for the first time in a UFC fight. By the time UFC 7 aired on PPV, viewers who tuned in to watch had seen it all. This included, but was not limited to: unanswered groin shots, good old fashioned strangling, and one of the most boring professional fights of all time (to this day). Remember, the only rules in the UFC at this time were no biting or eye gouging. Outweighed by 90 pounds, Brazilian “King Of The Streets” Marco Ruas is standing across the cage from a 300 pound behemoth, Paul Varelans. While Marco is known for his jiu jitsu prowess at this time, he came to the United States as one of the very first fighters to have a well rounded skill set. Varelans is more of a wrestler, with some training in Taekwondo and Boxing. Both of these fighters have competed twice on this evening, defeated their opponents, and are now facing each other in the championship fight. 

    The bell rings and Varelans charges towards Ruas. After a brief exchange, Marco does something unusual – he kicks Paul Varelans’ leg. That’s right. Marco Ruas takes his own leg and uses it as a whip, ripping right into the meat of Varelans’ hamstring muscle. It doesn’t seem to affect Varelans too much, as he keeps pressing forward looking for openings to land strikes. Eventually Varelans takes notice of these kicks, switching to a southpaw stance after Ruas lands several early on. At a few points, Varelans even attempts to “check” these kicks of Ruas by simply lifting his lead leg. This doesn’t seem to discourage Marco from throwing them, as he continues to slam these kicks into Varelans’ thigh. After some clinching and work in close, the two fighters are separated and back to striking.

    Again, Ruas starts crushing Paul’s lead leg. Varelans’ leg gives out and he hits the mat. Ruas swarms him and at the same time, Varelans’ corner is throwing in the towel. Marco Ruas just won the UFC 7 tournament. Now you might be asking yourself, what just happened? In a fight with only two rules, there are a thousand ways to lose. Punches or kicks to the head. A flying armbar. Elbows on the ground. Hell, a piledriver that results in a knockout. Instead, we got a guy who fell over from being kicked in the leg a bunch of times. This technique is called a “low kick”. Low kicks have been around for a long time, and have been taught in disciplines such as Kyokushin Karate and Muay Thai for many years. However, this was the first time in No-Holds-Barred that we saw these kicks used in ALL of their destructive glory.

    Maurice Smith landing a low kick on Steve Tremblay in a 1987 WKA Championship fight 

    Marco was already 34 when he made his UFC debut, so you might be asking, how did he learn all of these skills, and become so proficient at them so early on? Although so far we have focused on low kicks, we are only looking at them to help us understand the rise of a broader skill set in NHB – Brazilian Muay Thai. By the time Marco Ruas fought in America in 1995, he was an experienced fighter. He competed in Boxing, Muay Thai, and mixed rules bouts throughout the 80s and 90s in Brazil, promoting and teaching his proprietary art of “Ruas Vale Tudo”. Marco started training Judo at the age of 13 years old under his uncle Vinicius Ruas, who allowed Marco to train at his academy for free. He then moved on to Boxing and eventually became the state champion in Rio. Ruas started his Muay Thai training in 1979, at the age of 18. He was a student of Luiz Alves at the very first Muay Thai academy in Brazil: Academia Naja. Around the same age, Marco began learning Wrestling, Jiu Jitsu, and Luta Livre. He was also one of the first fighters from Brazil to crosstrain in striking and grappling techniques, as most martial artists were dogmatic about their discipline at that time, particularly Jiu Jitsu practitioners. When Marco finally fought in the UFC, it didn’t just prove his skills were legitimate on a global scale, it also gave him a surge in popularity not yet reached in his home country.

    Photo by Buda Mendes/LatinContent via Getty Images

    Marco has lived in the United States since the late 1990s, and still teaches his brand of Vale Tudo at an MMA academy in California. To understand all of this in a historical context, we have to travel back in time. In the next part of this series, we will explore the origins of Muay Thai in Brazil, and what ultimately led to Muay Thai being such a force in 1990s No-Holds-Barred, all the way up to now.

    References:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Ruas

    https://tomacelliacademy.com/

  • The Uncrowned King: A Mathematics-Based Approach To Finding The Best Fighters

    The Uncrowned King: A Mathematics-Based Approach To Finding The Best Fighters

    A single fighter who holds the best resume in the MMA history has long been a topic of debate among fans and forums alike. Some believe this is simply a fable – a myth that litters the internet with incessant deliberation and cruel memes. When you consider the evolution of the sport, the number of organizations, and the sheer number of competitors across nearly three decades – it becomes not a matter of if, but how much MMA math is being used as the primary method of analysis. This “Uncrowned King” series does not intend to supply a concrete answer to this eternal question, rather it relies on data obtained using a mathematical-based analysis. Keep in mind we are not discussing who the GOAT(s) is/are – we are simply looking at the guys who consistently fought, were competitive with, and beat the best over a sustained period of time. The goal is to observe just what makes these fighters extraordinary – as well as stimulate the conversation about these athletes in a different way. Like any argument of who is or has “the best of” anything, selecting specific criteria is important in determining the best candidates. The following is the criteria and system I have developed for rating MMA fighters with the best resumé. I will use this framework to rank these fighters based on points awarded. The system I’ve created is based on my own opinion of what it means to carry such a distinction and is subject to change as we go through this process.

    Basic Criteria For Consideration

    1. This fighter must have at least 30 professional fights on their record and have 10+ years of professional competition
    2. This fighter must have competed against other highly ranked (top 15) competitors on a regular basis
    3. This fighter must have won at least 60 percent of their fights (winning is important, but there is wiggle room here)
    4. This fighter must have fought in a major MMA organization – PRIDE, UFC, WEC, or Strikeforce
    5. This fighter can be retired or active
    6. Their opponents will be judged by their ranking AT THE TIME of these specific fights
    7. These fighter selections will be ranked relative to the strength of their own divisions (whether a division is considered “weak” or “strong” is irrelevant)

    Points System

    1. Fight against opponent ranked 11-15 = 1 point
    2. Win against opponent ranked 11-15 = 1.5 points
    3. Finish against opponent ranked 11-15 = 2 points

    4. Fight against opponent ranked 6-10 = 2 points
    5. Win against opponent ranked 6-10 = 3 points
    6. Finish against opponent ranked 6-10 = 4 points

    7. Fight against opponent ranked 1-5 = 3 points
    8. Win against opponent ranked 1-5 = 4.5 points
    9. Finish against opponent ranked 1-5 = 6 points

    10. Challenging for a belt = 4 points
    11. Winning the belt = 6 points
    12. Finishing the champion = 8 points
    13. Fighting up or down a weight class = Bonus of 0.5 points

    Fight Matrix Historical Rankings: https://www.fightmatrix.com/historical-mma-rankings/generated-historical-rankings/?Issue=66&Division=2

    Each win that the particular combatant has against a top 15 opponent is documented and scored based on the opponent, weight class, and fight result. The points are then awarded for each contest. Once I have gone through each relevant fight, I add up all of the points. The fighters are given a final score, which are then ranked amongst the others. Keep in mind that I will NOT be covering losses, only wins against ranked opponents. In theory, the fighter with the highest score would have the best resume in MMA. The rankings of each fighter at the time of each contest will be taken from Fight Matrix Historical Rankings.

  • The Uncrowned King | Dan Henderson | 2009 to 2014

    The Uncrowned King | Dan Henderson | 2009 to 2014

    In the first part I published on Hendo, I covered all of his ranked wins while fighting in PRIDE. That included adding both welterweight and middleweight championship belts to Dan’s resume. In the second part, we will talk about Hendo’s success in the UFC and Strikeforce.

    Event: UFC 93

    Opponent: Rich Franklin

    Result: Win // Split Decision

    Opponent’s Rank: 10 (Light Heavyweight – 205 lbs)

    Score: 3 points

    On this night, we saw the long-anticipated bout between Dan Henderson and Rich Franklin take place. In a fast paced entertaining match up, Hendo used his wrestling advantage to take Rich down at least once in each round. With Franklin working back to his feet multiple times, he was able to land clean on Hendo many times – the left body kick being his most effective strike. Despite his efforts, Dan had some success of his own on the feet, and was able to get the split decision win.

    Event: UFC 100

    Opponent: Michael Bisping

    Opponent’s Ranking: 11 (Middleweight – 185 lbs)

    Result: Win // KO (punch)

    Score: 2.5 points (0.5 bonus points given for moving down in weight)

    UFC 100 became a legendary night for the H-Bomb hero we all know and love. During season 9 of The Ultimate Fighter opposite brash Englishman Michael Bisping, the two developed a vicious rivalry. Eager to put “The Count” to rest (pun intended), Hendo was aggressive early. In the second round Bisping started landing more frequently, although the observation of many was that he was circling towards to power side of Henderson. That proved to be his undoing, as he carefully placed his head right onto the path of Hendo’s most dangerous punch. Dan knocked him out cold, and landed his signature leaping superman punch to the head of an unconscious Bisping. Mario Yamasaki stepped in to save him, and The Count would remain out for minutes. It was and still remains to be one of the most brutal knockouts in UFC history, which made Henderson glad to have “shut him up”.

    Event: Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu

    Opponent: Renato Sobral

    Opponent’s Ranking: 13 (Light Heavyweight – 205 lbs)

    Result: Win // KO (punches)

    Score: 2 points

    Hendo faced Renato “Babalu” Sobral in a fight that would lead to a title shot for Dan. After a brief feeling out process, Hendo landed a left hook and right hand that got Babalu’s attention. He shot for a takedown and there was a chaotic scramble that had Hendo spinning 360 degrees on his own leg, and ended with Henderson knocking Babalu out with some vicious ground and pound strikes.

    Event: Strikeforce: Columbus

    Opponent: Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante

    Opponent’s Ranking: 11 (Light Heavyweight – 205 lbs)

    Result: Win // TKO (punches)

    Score: 2 points

    In a bout that saw Henderson getting dropped by Feijao early in the first round, the fight would become largely a wrestling battle in the second frame. The two came out trading heavy in the third, with Hendo landing a beautifully violent right hand. Feijao landed face first on the canvas, and you can guess what happens next. With this win, Hendo wins a world title in a second major MMA organization.

    Event: Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson

    Opponent: Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko

    Opponent’s Ranking: 7 (Heavyweight)

    Result: Win // TKO (punches)

    Score: 4.5 points (0.5 bonus points given for moving up in weight)

    We all know what a win over The Last Emperor does for a fighter’s career and legacy. This was a short but chaotic affair. Hendo had Fedor rocked early with a left hook. After a bit of time in the clinch, Fedor dropped Henderson with a huge, bludgeoning right hand. As Fedor went in for the kill, Dan escaped to Fedor’s back and snuck in a short right uppercut for the ages, knocking him unconscious. That’s a middleweight knocking out a heavyweight.

    Event: UFC 139

    Opponent: Mauricio “Shogun” Rua

    Opponent’s Ranking: 2 (Light Heavyweight – 205 lbs)

    Result: Win // Unanimous Decision

    Score: 4.5 points

    Although both of these men had their own respective runs in PRIDE, surprisingly these two never met before this matchup. This was a war for the ages. Hendo would drop Shogun in the opening frame, and do so again in the second. As Shogun survived and the fight wore on, he would display his legendary durability by putting it on Dan late in the 4th and 5th rounds, nearly stopping him multiple times. However that would prove to be inadequate, as Hendo would walk away with a well earned unanimous decision that night.

    Event: UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs. Shogun II

    Opponent: Mauricio “Shogun” Rua

    Opponent’s Ranking: 9 (Light Heavyweight – 205 lbs)

    Result: Win // TKO (punches)

    Score: 4 points

    Three years later, these two absolute legends clashed again in a rematch. In yet another timeless battle, it was Shogun hurting Dan early and getting the better of him. Defending a takedown in the third round left Rua’s head exposed, just enough for Hendo to deliver a sneaky right hook. Dan unleashed hell on Shogun, finishing him within seconds.

    Conclusion

    Total Points: 64

    In closing, we can see why Dan Henderson is always talked about amongst hardcore fans as the having the best resume in MMA. Even without the UFC belt that eluded him later in his career, he was still the champion in two major organizations across two weight divisions. Including his losses, he fought a murderer’s row of opponents throughout his entire career. Not only did he display great skill and power, but he also exhibited a legendary toughness and durability that has immortalized him.

  • The Uncrowned King | Dan Henderson | 2001 to 2007

    The Uncrowned King | Dan Henderson | 2001 to 2007

    Hendo is one of the most revered fighters in the history of MMA. The reason he is listed first here is not only because of the sheer depth of competition from the very beginning of his career – but also the number of weight classes he competed in. Known early on as “Decision Dan”, Hendo used his Greco-Roman Wrestling credentials to take his opponent down to land ground and pound (and sometimes win close decisions). Just three years into his career, he had already beaten the likes of Carlos Newton, Big Nog, Gilbert Yvel, and Babalu over the course of two tournaments. Throughout his historic career, Hendo dropped his patented “H-Bomb” on many victims. His wrestling along with his power and durability carried him to some impressive feats: he is a former PRIDE Welterweight and Middleweight Champion, a former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion, and is the second fighter to hold a belt in two weight classes at the same time. He also challenged for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship one time, the UFC Middleweight Championship 2x, and the Strikeforce Middleweight Championship once.

    Scoring the Best Resume

    I have created a simple point-based system to help determine the highest ranked fighter. The system I created is simply too much information for this article so if you’d like to see exactly how I came up with these results, you can see the criteria here.

    The Basics

    Organizations: UFC, PRIDE, Strikeforce, RINGS

    Weight Class(es): Welterweight, Middleweight, Light Heavyweight, Heavyweight

    Years Active: 1997-2016

    MMA Record: 32-15

    Win Percentage: 68%

    Finishing Rate: 56%

    Best Wins: Fedor, Big Nog, Wanderlei Silva, Shogun Rua x2, Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante, Michael Bisping, Renato “Babalu” Sobral, Renzo Gracie

    His Wins

    His defeat of Big Nog in 2000 was great – however, Nogueira had yet to rise to the legend he would later become in PRIDE against guys like Gary Goodridge, Mark Coleman and Heath Herring. Dan’s career ended just like it began – littered with top quality opponents. I will be omitting the three tournaments Hendo fought in early in his career, because they were openweight (and not in major organizations). In just his fourth pro fight he faced The Ronin himself, Carlos Newton. Let’s take a look at all of Henderson’s top wins. When looking at Hendo’s top wins, lets keep in mind that there are some notable differences between PRIDE FC and the UFC. The Middleweight division in the UFC had a weight limit of 199 pounds pre-UFC 33, and a limit of 185 pounds post-UFC 33. The same weight class in PRIDE had a limit of 205 pounds (what we now know as Light Heavyweight). For the purposes of scoring, we will consider 205 pounds to be Dan’s “home”, as he won two of his three belts there and that’s where his most sustained run of success was.

    Event: UFC 17

    Opponent: Carlos Newton

    Opponent’s Ranking: 15 (Middleweight – 199 lbs)

    Result: Win // Split Decision

    Score: 1.5 points

    After getting rocked early by a right hook, Henderson recovered and put Carlos on his back several times. Although he had to survive Newton’s own takedowns and submission attempts from the bottom, Hendo took home a split decision win after this back and forth affair.

    Event: PRIDE 13

    Opponent: Renzo Gracie

    Opponent’s Ranking: 4 (Middleweight – 205 lbs)

    Result: Win // KO (punch)

    Score: 6 points

    Dan’s next significant win was none other than Renzo Gracie – he had wins over Otsuka and Maurice Smith, and was the number 4 ranked Middleweight at the time. After stuffing a few early takedown attempts from Renzo, Henderson landed a powerful right uppercut as Gracie was shooting in. After two more unanswered strikes on the ground, the fight was stopped.

    Event: PRIDE Final Conflict 2003

    Opponent: Murilo Bustamante

    Opponent’s Ranking: 10 (Middleweight – 205 lbs)

    Result: Win // TKO (Punches)

    Score: 4 points

    Let’s be real here. Murilo was undoubtedly one of the best Middleweights on the planet for a long time. He stopped Dave Menne to win the UFC Middleweight belt at UFC 35, and defended that belt against Matt Lindland at UFC 37. At the time Hendo fought him, he was ranked at both 185 pounds and 205 pounds. This contest turned out to be a short one. After missing on a right hand, Hendo sprawled on a takedown attempt and landed a left knee to Bustamante’s face. He followed up with a barrage of punches and the fight was over in less than a minute.

    Event: PRIDE 28

    Opponent: Kazuhiro Nakamura

    Opponent’s Ranking: 10 (Middleweight – 205 lbs)

    Result: Win // TKO (Shoulder Injury)

    Score: 2 points

    Known for his flashy entrances to the ring, PRIDE Judoka Kazuhiro Nakamura was Hendo’s next opponent. After taking a right hand from Dan early on, Kaz shot in for a single leg. Moments later Hendo can be seen on the ground kneeing Nakamura in the head from top position, and the fight is stopped moments later. It appears as though Dan was pulling Kaz’s upper body towards him when throwing the knees, likely to generate more power. Within seconds, the fight was stopped due to an injury to Nakamura’s left shoulder.

    Event: PRIDE Shockwave 2004

    Opponent: Yuki Kondo

    Opponent’s Ranking: 8 (Middleweight – 205 lbs)

    Result: Win // Split Decision

    Score: 3 points

    Hendo then faced the experienced Kenpo practitioner and Japanese Gangster, Yuki Kondo. After being taken down and dominated on the ground for much of the first two rounds, Hendo came back to out strike and out grapple Fudoshin in the third frame. He ended the fight in side control and was declared the winner via controversial split decision.

    Event: PRIDE Bushido 9

    Opponent(s): Ryo Chonan, Akihiro Gono

    Opponent(s) Ranking: 5 (Welterweight – 183 lbs), 12 (Welterweight – 183 lbs)

    Result: Win // TKO (Punches), Win // KO (Punches)

    Score: 9 points (0.5 bonus points given in each for moving down in weight)

    I grouped Chonan and Akihiro together because Dan beat them both on the same night for the 2005 PRIDE Welterweight Grand Prix. In the fight against Chonan to open his night, Henderson landed two right hands in the first exchange of the opening round to knock the karateka down. He didn’t have to follow up for long, as the referee stopped the fight at just 22 seconds into the fight.

    After beating Ryo in the first round, Hendo went on to face Akihiro Gono. In the early moments of the fight, Dan dropped Gono with a jab. They spent most of the remaining time exchanging on the feet, which led to Henderson landing multiple Wanderlei-style left hook-right hook combinations. He dropped Gono against the corner ropes, and the fight was stopped at 7:58 of the first round.

    Event: PRIDE Shockwave 2005

    Opponent: Murilo Bustamante

    Opponent’s Rank: 3 (Welterweight – 183 lbs)

    Result: Win // Split Decision

    Score: 5 points (0.5 bonus points given for moving down in weight)

    Dan faced Bustamante for the second time at PRIDE Shockwave on New Year’s Eve in 2005. This time, the stakes were higher: The winner of this fight would not only win the PRIDE Welterweight Grand Prix, they would also become the PRIDE Welterweight Champion. More competitive than their first fight and much longer, the early parts of the fight were spent with the combatants exchanging takedowns and submission attempts. After multiple striking exchanges and several guillotine attempts by Henderson, both guys were exhausted at the sound of the final bell. Based on the damage done by Hendo over three rounds, the judges awarded him the decision. The score given to Dan here is based on the fact that while he did challenge for the undisputed belt, Murilo was not the belt holder and essentially the fight was for the debuting Welterweight Championship. At the time there was no PRIDE Welterweight Champion, Hendo would be the only champion in that division before the UFC bought out PRIDE FC.

    Event: PRIDE 32

    Opponent: Vitor Belfort

    Opponent’s Rank: 10 (Middleweight – 205 lbs)

    Result: Win // Unanimous Decision

    Score: 3

    After a disappointing loss to Misaki in a rematch that prevented Dan from exiting the first round of the 2006 PRIDE Welterweight Grand Prix, he faced Vitor Belfort. After a brief exchange on the feet early, Hendo was able to take Belfort down and control top position for the majority of the round. In the second, Vitor curiously pulled guard. Henderson capitalized on this by pounding away at Vitor’s skull for the entire round. While the third round look similar to the first two, the Phenom swept Hendo from half guard and was able to gain top position. Henderson was able to escape this a minute later, as he obtained side control off of a scramble and landed some heavy shots. Dan Henderson came away with the unanimous decision win.

    Event: PRIDE 33

    Opponent: Wanderlei Silva

    Opponent’s Rank: 3 (Middleweight – 205 lbs)

    Result: Win // KO (punches)

    Score: 8 points

    After beating Vitor Belfort at PRIDE 32, the very next event saw Hendo dethrone the reigning PRIDE Middleweight champion: The Axe Murderer, Wanderlei Silva. Wandy had held the Middleweight belt since 2001, defending it four times and winning the 2003 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix during his run. At Middleweight Silva was virtually unbeatable, so you can understand why he was expected to continue his reign of terror against Henderson. Dan, however, had other plans. After a quick takedown, Silva spent the first several minutes of the fight controlling top position in Dan’s full guard. Wandy ended the round by stunning Dan. Henderson was able to secure a takedown in the second, controlling Wanderlei and doing some heavy damage from inside the guard. In the third, Hendo failed on a takedown attempt and then eventually landed a huge left hook, which put Wandy completely out. Hendo landed his famous superman shot, and the fight was stopped.

  • The Uncrowned Emperor | Fedor Emelianenko | Later Years: 2005 to 2009

    The Uncrowned Emperor | Fedor Emelianenko | Later Years: 2005 to 2009

    The first article I wrote on Fedor reviewed his wins over the likes of Heath Herring, Big Nog twice, Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman, and Semmy Schilt. Of all his seven ranked wins during that time period, he finished four of those guys. In his early years of capturing a championship and defending it, he had established himself as a dominant force in PRIDE. The wins I will discuss in this article will display just how much of a destroyer he was, and why he sparked so many fiery discussions about potential matchups that never came to fruition. Let’s take a look at the second half of his legendary PRIDE run.

    Fedor’s ranked wins: 2005 to 2009

    Event: PRIDE Final Conflict 2005

    Opponent: Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic

    Opponent Ranking: 4

    Result: Win // Unanimous Decision

    Score: 4.5 points

    Cro Cop was ranked at number four going into this fight, Any fan with a brain knew Cro Cop was the second best guy at heavyweight, and had the biggest chance of dethroning The Last Emperor. He was widely viewed as the best striker in the division. With improving ground skills, Cro Cop put together a 7-fight winning streak over a 13 month period over the likes of Aleks Emelianenko, Barnett, Coleman and Randleman (revenge!). This all culminated into a massive train of excitement that took the MMA world by storm, this fight being billed as the biggest heavyweight fight in MMA. Alas, it was. Although Fedor was only a moderate favorite, the champ was still being hailed as the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world, and most die hard fans expected him to be an utterly dominating force against Mirko. To some extent, they were right. Fedor won decisively – although it wasn’t as definitive as a lot of us expected, Fedor proved he was the better man that night. Fedor’s gameplan was simple: move forward and make Cro Cop uncomfortable, clinch, get a takedown, finish him on the ground. Although Mirko made this a competitive fight, Fedor was largely able to execute what he wanted to. Cro Cop looked good in the opening frame, and was able to land a lot of strikes, forcing Fedor to reach and miss. At the end of the first, Cro Cop already looked tired, and that would prove to be his downfall. Fedor controlled the second and third rounds, Taking Mirko down at will and landing short shots on the ground. There were brief moments for Cro Cop in both rounds but ultimately, once he was taken down, he was unable to get to his feet. Fedor defended his belt, once again.

    Event: PRIDE 32

    Opponent: Mark Coleman

    Opponent Ranking: 4

    Result: Win // Armbar

    Score: 6 points

    At this point, Fedor has fought nearly everyone there is to fight in the PRIDE Heavyweight division. He is 12-0 in PRIDE, coming off the massive win over Cro Cop, and destruction of Zulu. Mark Coleman really showed his age in this fight, fighting the best heavyweight on the planet in a non-title bout. Another thing he showed in this fight was an iron chin, as he absorbed a lot of heavy shots from Fedor in the opening frame, when he failed to take the Russian down. In the second round, Fedor stuffs Coleman’s first shot, but as Mark pressures him, he is able to secure a double leg and get Fedor down. Working in open guard, Fedor transitions to an armbar and submits Coleman just one minute into the second round. Another stoppage win for The Last Emperor.

    Event: PRIDE Shockwave 2006

    Opponent: Mark Hunt

    Opponent Ranking: 7

    Result: Win // Kimura

    Score: 4 points

    In the 2000s, Mark Hunt was known for being a dangerous kickboxer who had power in virtually every strike he threw. As he transitioned to MMA, his ground game improved, but it was always a big hole in his game. However, you wouldn’t have known by watching his showdown with Fedor. In this particular matchup, in which we saw oddsmakers make Fedor a -650 favorite over Hunt, we saw not just one reversal from him on the ground, but two. The second time Hunt reversed Fedor, he passed to mount, and tried for an americana keylock. Fedor escaped and with Hunt exhausted from so much grappling, Hunt is taken down and finished by a Fedor kimura from half guard. The champ was tested, but his winning streak moves to 22 straight overall, and a 23 fight unbeaten streak if you include the no contest against Big Nog.

    Event: Affliction: Banned

    Opponent: Tim Sylvia

    Opponent Ranking: 8

    Result: Win // Rear-Naked Choke

    Score: 4 points

    There were a few guys that we all wanted to see Fedor fight during his historic run. Randy Couture, Frank Mir, and Brock Lesnar come to mind. Tim Sylvia is another guy we all thought could present some stylistic challenges to Fedor, although Tim was never quite the dominant force Fedor was, even in his prime. In fact, Sylvia expressed a desire to fight Fedor while he was in the UFC, and was even granted a release from the UFC in 2008, citing low pay and an inability to fight Fedor. While Sylvia wasn’t really known as a ground fighter, his size and length matched up well against Fedor standing up. Additionally, with his experience as a two-time UFC champion, Sylvia had proven himself with wins over Arlovski (x2), Wes Sims, Gan McGee, Monson, Telligman and Ricco Rodriguez. By the time he fought Fedor he was 32 years old, just one year and three fights removed from being the UFC Heavyweight Champion, and had gone 1-2 in his last four, His losses being to Big Nog and Couture. Fedor and Sylvia met in July of 2008. From the sound of the opening bell, Fedor immediately closed the distance and clinched. He then landed a few punches that stunned Sylvia, followed by a sequence of lead uppercut-right hook combinations that dropped him. Fedor jumped on Sylvia and finished him with a rear-naked choke.

    Event: Affliction: Day Of Reckoning

    Opponent: Andrei Arlovski

    Opponent Ranking: 5

    Result: Win // KO

    Score: 6 points

    Although Arlovski was pretty well removed from his UFC championship run, he was still absolutely at the peak of his abilities, and was coming off a five fight win streak including victories over Werdum, Rothwell and Nelson. Fedor, coming off the demolition of Sylvia, proved to his critics (even Dana White) that not only was he still the dominant force that he was in Pride, but that he was still a world championship level fighter at the top of his game. Arlovski had a skill set that matched up well with The Emperor: a former UFC Heavyweight champion who could knock anyone out, and had the ground skills to counter Fedor or avoid being taken down. Although Fedor came in as a moderate favorite, Arlovski controlled the opening minutes using low kicks and straight punches. Fedor did have trouble closing the distance and whiffed on a good number of hooks, but he was able to land a few decent shots of his own. Arlovski landed a beautiful overhand right that stunned Fedor momentarily, and followed it up with a front kick that pushed Fedor backwards towards the corner of the ring. Andrei smelled blood, and went in for the kill. As he left his feet to throw a flying knee, Fedor crashed into him with a MASSIVE right hand that landed right on the button. Arlovski fell to the canvas, lifeless. Despite being out struck for most of the round, The Emperor found a way to get the job done.

    Event: Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers

    Opponent: Brett Rogers

    Opponent Ranking: 7

    Result: Win // KO

    Score: 4 points

    Brett Rogers was coming off of his own knockout of Andrei Arlovski, which was a HUGE upset at the time. Rogers came into Strikeforce with a few good wins and an undefeated record, and a win over fellow prospect Ron Humphrey catapulted him into a fight with Andrei Arlovski. Rogers was largely untested, and inexperienced. Nonetheless, Brett was able to hurt Andrei in the early moments of the fight, and swarm him with a furious pattern of left and right hooks until Arlovski collapsed. Despite the result of that fight, Rogers was a heavy underdog going into his fight with Fedor, and was understandably not expected to do well at all against the former PRIDE champ. Rogers opens the fight with some solid jabs, one of which seems to have an effect on Fedor’s nose. Fedor again has trouble closing the distance, but he is able to land a few good shots. He takes down Rogers, who pops right back up, as Fedor lands a big shot and gets another takedown. Ultimately Fedor would end the round on top after being reversed. At the start of the second round, looking towards a tiring Rogers, Fedor pushes the pace up against the cage. Once they separate, Fedor lands a heatseeker right hand on the chin as Rogers comes in to throw his own left hook. Within seconds, the fight is stopped.

    That covers all of Fedor’s ranked wins. Unfortunately he never joined the UFC and later in his career, went back to fight in Japan, then made his US return fighting for Bellator. While he did pick up some solid wins there, none of the heavyweights he beat were ranked in the top 15.

    Total Resume Score: 57.5 points

  • The Uncrowned Emperor | Fedor Emelianenko | Early Reign: 2002 to 2004

    The Uncrowned Emperor | Fedor Emelianenko | Early Reign: 2002 to 2004

    The stoic finisher. The Heavyweight King. The stone cold killer. The Last Emperor. Known for his striped sweater and aloof demeanor, Fedor Emelianenko has mystified MMA fans and analysts all over the globe for the better part of 25 years. Like a lot of guys I will cover in this series – Fedor started fighting top guys early in his career. Fedor was accomplished in both Sambo and Judo before transitioning to MMA – which he joined in order to achieve better financial stability. He was a Master of Sport in both arts (as well as a Black Belt in Judo), was an International gold medalist in Sambo, and had won multiple bronze medals in both National and International competitions in Europe and Russia. Fedor Emelianenko is widely regarded as one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time – a distinction no other heavyweight can be agreed upon consistently. He is revered for his skills and outward display of budo, possessing a skill set that would rival ANY active Heavyweight today.  His ability to fight through adversity and come back to win is extraordinary, and is one of the reasons he is so widely respected. Matched only by his sheer aggression in pursuit of a finish, all of these attributes encompass an individual as humble as he is terrifying.

    Scoring the Best Resume

    This article is part of my “Uncrowned King” series. In these works, I will use a mathematical approach to analyzing the resume of some of the best fighters in MMA history. I will only be covering wins over ranked opponents during a given fighter’s career, so no losses or unranked wins will be counted. Every ranked win will be given a score that, together, will become a collective sum for that particular fighter. For this series of articles, I will be using a specific set of criteria that you can look at here.

    Organizations: PRIDE, Strikeforce, RINGS

    Weight Class: Heavyweight

    Years Active: 2000-2023

    MMA Record: 40-7-1 (NC)

    Win Percentage: 83%

    Finishing Rate: 78% (16 KOs, 15 submissions)

    Best Wins: Andrei Arlovski, Mirko Cro Cop, Ricardo Arona, Mark Coleman, Mark Hunt, Renato “Babalu” Sobral, Antonio “Big Nog” Nogueira x2, Semmy Schilt, Heath Herring, Kevin Randleman, Tim Sylvia, Matt Lindland, Pedro Rizzo, Frank Mir

    The Basics

    Fedor Emelianenko has been criticized over the last two decades (both reasonably and unreasonably) due to some of the names on his resume. He has also been hammered by MMA fans because of the fact that he never fought in the UFC. I can understand these criticisms, however – despite these lingering blemishes, Fedor fought, and beat, some of the very best of his time. His wins in RINGS will be omitted from this article simply because RINGS has not historically been considered a major organization. Although it is worth noting that Fedor had wins over Ricardo Arona and Babalu prior to his run in PRIDE.

    His Wins

    When Fedor made his Japanese MMA debut in 2002, he was a rising talent. He was known as a formidable groundfighter who wasn’t afraid to exchange big shots. He also had the power to hurt, and even stop bigger heavyweights. his fights in RINGS helped him develop his own style leading up to his fight against Semmy Schilt at PRIDE 22. According to historical rankings, Schilt has the number one heavyweight in the world at this time. I personally wouldn’t have had him at number one, nor do I think many others. I’d say that would probably be Igor Vovchanchyn or Mark Coleman. However, I do still believe that Schilt was a top 5 guy when he fought Fedor, so I’d score this one the same way regardless.

    Event: PRIDE 21

    Opponent: Semmy Schilt

    Opponent Ranking: 1

    Result: Win // Unanimous Decision

    Score: 4.5 points

    Being that Semmy had nearly a foot on Fedor in height and around the same in reach, there was no reason for Fedor to stand up with the experienced striker. Seconds into the opening frame, Schilt was taken down by an exploding Fedor. This was the story of the entire fight, with Fedor maintaining top control over the taller man. At multiple points in every round Fedor had an armbar – but never got it fully locked in, as Semmy was able to escape each time. Emelianenko was able to do some solid damage, but Schilt proved himself to be capable defensively on the ground, tying Fedor up. Regardless, Fedor was able to control the entire bout, winning by unanimous decision.

    Event: PRIDE 23

    Opponent: Heath Herring

    Opponent Ranking: 11

    Result: Win // TKO (Doctor Stoppage)

    Score: 2 points

    This fight was a title elimator, with the winner Although Heath was ranked at number 11 coming into this fight, I think he was much better than that ranking would suggest. He had recently lost a title fight to Big Nog, but rattled off two straight wins over Kochkine and Vovchanchyn. Although he was well known for his ground game, he developed improved striking over the years. When he met Fedor at PRIDE 23, none of that mattered. Herring was dominated so thoroughly that within three minutes of the opening bell, the cageside physician was coming in to check the swelling on Heath’s right eye. Heath opened the fight with a teep, which was met by an immediate takedown for Fedor. While Herring briefly attempted a kneebar and eventually reversed position after Fedor lost back control, Fedor spent virtually the entire first round pummeling Heath from top – full guard, half guard, side control. The swelling on Heath’s right eye proved to be too much for the doctor to allow, as the fight was stopped in between the first and second round.

    Event: PRIDE 25

    Opponent: Antonio “Big Nog” Nogueira

    Opponent Ranking: 1 (Champion)

    Result: Win // Unanimous Decision

    Score: 6 points

    When Fedor met Antonio Nogueira at PRIDE 25 in March of 2003, Big Nog was already becoming a legendary fighter himself. He was 7-0 in the organization with six stoppages, the PRIDE Heavyweight Champion, the number one heavyweight on the planet, and the number one pound for pound fighter in the world. Nogueira had also won 12 fights in a row, dating back to February of 2000. He was known for his mastery of Jiu Jitsu and array of ground techniques, his durability, and extraordinary ability to come back and win fights he seemingly had no business winning. He was coming off recent wins over Dan Henderson and Semmy Schilt, and looking to defend his heavyweight belt. In walks Fedor Emelianenko. Although Fedor was seen as a legitimate threat by hardcore fans, most people thought he would have to keep the fight standing to have the best shot at taking out Big Nog. Yeah, that didn’t happen. The opening bell saw Fedor gliding across the ring throwing his patented right hand, and shooting his hips straight into a takedown. All of the first round was spent on the ground, with Fedor landing good shots on Nogueira, and avoiding any submission threats. Although Big Nog was the comeback king, the remainder of the fight looked just like the first round, and this was not a contest Nogueira would come back to win. Fedor mystified and shocked the world as he not only defended all of Antonio’s submission attempts effectively – he seemed to intentionally leave his limbs in certain danger, seemingly dismissive and in defiance of the skills Nogueira was bringing to the table. That was the first time we’ve ever saw Nogueira defeated this way – Fedor landed crushing blow after crushing blow time and time again from full guard, half guard and side control. He was awarded a unanimous decision victory and walked away the PRIDE Heavyweight Champion. A new era was upon us.

    Event: PRIDE Total Elimination 2003

    Opponent: Gary Goodridge

    Opponent Ranking: 8

    Result: Win // TKO (soccer kicks and punches)

    Score: 4

    Although Big Daddy had only amassed a 9-8 PRIDE record at the time he fought Fedor, he was a dangerous opponent for any heavyweight to face. Long removed from his days fighting in the UFC and winning a championship in the IVC, Goodridge was a striker who could hurt you on the feet, and a grappler that could finish you on the ground. Between 2001-2007 he went 12-3-1 with his only losses being to Big Nog, Herring, and The Last Emperor himself. Leading up to the Fedor fight he was unbeaten in his last five, with a draw against Ebenezer Fontes Braga in a special rules fight. As soon as the opening bell rang, Fedor charged across the ring and landed a left hook that stunned Gary. As Gary backed up, Fedor unleashed a barrage of left and right hooks that had Goodridge covering up. As he covered up, Fedor landed uppercuts to the body and head that led to a clinch and throw from Fedor. As Gary landed on his back, Fedor pummeled him with shots from open guard and side control, finishing him off with a soccer kick and a few hard punches. The ref stepped in after just 1 minute and 9 seconds of the very first round.

    Event: PRIDE Total Elimination 2004

    Opponent: Mark Coleman

    Opponent Ranking: 9

    Result: Win // Submission (armbar)

    Score: 4 points

    Mark Coleman was an accomplished fighter coming into Pride Total Elimination 2004. He was already a former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion, having won both the UFC 10 and UFC 11 tournaments, as well as the inaugural UFC heavyweight championship at UFC 12 against Dan Severn. However, Coleman didn’t care about any of that. He just wanted to go in there and show the world he is still a top fighter, and beating Fedor is the way do just that. With Coleman’s losing streak on the way out of the UFC a distant memory, the recent PRIDE Openweight Grand Prix winner is ready to face the The Last Emperor. Fedor himself, coming off the victory over Goodridge (and Japanese Pro Wrestler Yuji Nagata), is looking to claim victory over the legend. Fedor is taken down by Coleman in the opening seconds, and there is a scramble as Mark is able to take Fedor’s back and briefly obtain a semi-rear naked chokehold over Fedor’s chin. After Coleman is able to land some shots from the back position, Fedor reverses him. After another Hammer takedown leads to a high guard transition to armbar for Fedor, forcing Coleman to tap at 2 minutes and 11 seconds of the very first round.

    Event: PRIDE Critical Conflict 2004

    Opponent: Kevin Randleman

    Opponent Ranking: 5

    Result: Win // Submission (kimura)

    Score: 4 points

    We’re going to do things a little differently for this fight. I looked up the ranking for Kevin Randleman coming into the fight against Fedor. The fight was in June of 2004, and the closest ranking to that was updated for April of 2004. Kevin Randleman was noticeably absent from this list, due to his move from heavyweight to middleweight, then back up to heavyweight. Before “The Monster” fought Fedor, he had recent losses to Sakuraba and Rampage Jackson at middleweight. After those losses, Randleman moved up to fight Mirko Cro Cop, who was expected to win the 2004 PRIDE Heavyweight Grand Prix. In the opening round, Randleman landed the famous left hook heard around the world, and finished Cro Cop on the ground. Cro Cop was ranked as the number 5 heavyweight at the time. He was a wrecking ball bulldozing his way through the PRIDE ranks, knocking out almost everyone in his path. His only loss at the time was against Nogueira, and he was largely seen by fans and critics as a serious threat to Fedor’s throne. When Randleman stopped Mirko in the first round of their matchup, he shocked the world and claimed one of the biggest victories in MMA heavyweight history. For that reason, I am giving Kevin the ranking of number 10 here, as I think it’s only fair. I don’t want to give him a higher ranking than that, because I don’t want to overvalue his skills based on the sole win over Cro Cop. Unfortunately Fedor is a completely different fighter, and the glory Kevin soaked in from that victory didn’t last long. Although Kevin was coming off of a HUGE upset, Fedor was still considered the big favorite in this matchup, and to win the entire PRIDE Heavyweight Grand Prix. Randleman stunned us all in the opening minute when he got a MASSIVE suplex on Fedor, landing in side control. Fedor would prove to be tough to keep down, as he turned into a brief guillotine attempt, and used it to get on top and submit Randleman with a kimura from north-south position. Fedor needed less than two minutes to dispatch of the guy that just finished Mirko Cro Cop.

    Event: PRIDE Shockwave 2004

    Opponent: Antonio Nogueira

    Opponent Ranking: 2

    Result: Win // Unanimous Decision

    Score: 4.5 points

    It’s PRIDE Shockwave 2004, to decide both the Heavyweight Grand Prix winner, and the unified PRIDE Heavyweight Champion. Four months prior, Big Nog and Fedor met in their second matchup and what was supposed to be the Grand Prix final. However, that fight ended just a few minutes into the opening stanza when an accidental headbutt opened a massive gash on Fedor’s forehead. After 12 minutes of deliberation, the fight was deemed a no contest. In December of the same year, these two fought for the third time. Fedor was coming off wins over Randleman and Ogawa. Big Nog was coming off big wins over Herring and Kharitonov, and hadn’t lost a fight since Fedor took his championship belt in March of 2003. Nogueira, noticeably smaller and leaner in this fight, wanted to be the faster man and have some success on the feet before taking Fedor to the ground. His boxing was certainly improved by this point, and although he was becoming more well rounded, we all knew where he wanted the fight to go. All of these factors proved futile, as the mystery man Fedor came in a much improved version of himself. Although the second fight looked much like the first one (while it lasted), their trilogy matchup played out much differently. Fedor showed us a lot more patience and ring IQ in this fight. There was a lot more action on the feet, with Fedor exhibiting better footwork and landing the more powerful shots. Big Nog had moments in the striking but appeared a bit gunshy, likely from being taken down and damaged in both of their previous fights. When Fedor did take Nogueira down, it was easy, and he would instantly let Big Nog back up. Although Fedor had slowed down considerably in the third round, he was so dominant in the first two rounds that he was awarded the unanimous decision.