The first fight in the UFC (1993)

CaptWineTeeth · 2023-10-14T21:40:13+00:00

I vividly remember being in college common room in residence and one of the dudes from my floor coming in with a VHS tape exclaiming “GUYS! GUYS! They, like, did a fight thing where they made a karate guy fight a ninja and then a kung fu guy against a sumo and shit. There’s no rules! This tape is banned. We gotta watch!!” On the tape was UFC I, II, and III.

terran_submarine · 2023-10-14T20:52:16+00:00

The best thing about the original UFC was it exposed all the bs we had been taught about martial arts in the movies.

political_og · 2023-10-14T21:22:37+00:00

I remember one dude punching another dude in the nuts like 20 times. Shit was crazy

_deedas · 2023-10-14T21:50:17+00:00

Is the Samoan looking guy the shrimp dude from the Hawaii 50 remake?

RubiksSugarCube · 2023-10-14T21:08:36+00:00

The good old days of watching Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock wrapped up on the mat for 45 minutes trying to get the slightest bit of leverage on one another

PaMudpuddle · 2023-10-14T21:29:06+00:00

Is this the same WFC where the guy came out with one boxing glove? I guess they were still trying to tune it in at the time.

Hairy_Web_2366 · 2023-10-14T22:15:37+00:00

That’s the Savate champion Gerard Gordeau. That somnabitch tried to bite/gouge Royce Gracie later in the tournament and that’s why Gracie held onto the choke a little longer after the referee called it.

joethedreamer · 2023-10-14T21:36:30+00:00

“Are those sad tissues or happy tissues?”

Dude looks like (is?) the guy from Forgetting Sarah Marshall

nickyp364 · 2023-10-14T23:10:52+00:00

Fun fact about this tournament: If you watch later matches, you’ll see the dude in white (Gerard Gordeau) fight with a bandage on his right foot. That’s because after that head kick connected, one of the sumo wrestler’s teeth got stuck in Gordeau’s foot. Doctors told him that if they took the tooth out, they probably wouldn’t be able to stop the bleeding and he would have to withdraw. So instead, he fought the rest of the tournament with a tooth lodged in his right foot ☠️☠️☠️.

DougieSenpai · 2023-10-14T22:04:14+00:00

It’s actually wild how far it’s come lol

TastyCakesOverweight · 2023-10-14T22:28:48+00:00

If Brock Lesnar had a time machine I wonder how many people would have died back then

longhornrob · 2023-10-15T00:51:19+00:00

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Dry-Debate-6893 · 2023-10-15T00:06:56+00:00

Saw this same fight in a kfc parking lot last week

zdravkov321 · 2023-10-14T22:06:22+00:00

They basically took the idea from the movie blood sport and made a kumite on tv…..was there no weight classes?

Son_of_Plato · 2023-10-14T20:36:57+00:00

knuckles do a lot of damage.

muerte626 · 2023-10-15T01:38:02+00:00

I remember that night so well. We ordered the Bigfoot pizza from Pizza Hut. The pizza did not get to us till midnight. The driver who delivered told us the previous delivery driver was in an accident and unfortunately passed. He said the pie was on the house but we gave him all the cash we had on us to help out with any services. I’ll never forget that night. And oh yea, the fights were great.

MrMgP · 2023-10-14T21:59:32+00:00

Dutch guy broke his hand and went on to the finals to lose to the BJJ dude.

Guy in the white pants was an asshole and a cheater btw

Substantial-Detail13 · 2023-10-15T00:14:11+00:00

That’s back when it was tournament style and you had to fight 3 times in a night

CrieDeCoeur · 2023-10-15T00:54:49+00:00

Early UFC was wild. Such odd match ups. I distinctly recall watching Royce Gracie take down a 400-lb Dutch judoka. Choked him out using the collar of his own gi. After the fight, Gracie said something to the effect of “where are all these tough guys I keep hearing about?” Lol

Schmurby · 2023-10-14T20:23:22+00:00

I actually remember when this happened.

White boy is like so unbelievably out of shape for an athlete and yet…you can tell he’s gonna win from the outset.

Dude don’t give a fuck

DigMeTX · 2023-10-14T21:44:26+00:00

I watched this on VHS.

Character_Past5515 · 2023-10-14T22:19:14+00:00

Is that the dude from Hawaii Five-0?

PerdiMeuHeadphone · 2023-10-14T20:12:58+00:00

Wtf is this weight difference

Head-like-a-carp · 2023-10-14T22:26:49+00:00

More interesting to me is the unborn twin protruding out the back of Chunk's skull.

Winter-Cup-2965 · 2023-10-14T22:27:01+00:00

Watched this live

mississippijohnson · 2023-10-14T22:44:20+00:00

I was 4 years old staying up late with my dad and my adopted brother who was a college football standout watching a kickboxer kick a sumo in the face all the while 170 pound guy in gi convinced me he was the biggest badass on the planet.

Octowuss1 · 2023-10-14T23:42:02+00:00

Oh, man, my husband and I used to rent the first bunch from the local grocery store on VHS. My husband liked the fights, I just liked Dan Severn and Don Frye’s incredible mustaches

Thomisawesome · 2023-10-15T00:47:09+00:00

I remember when UFC started how excited my and my friends were. Anything goes, any fighting style vs any fighting style.

Fast forward to today where UFC fighter has actually become someone who can kick, and then tries to quickly do a takedown. Where is my monkey-style judo!?

NoSitRecords · 2023-10-15T07:47:24+00:00

UFC was like live action Street Fighter with the countries and weird outfits and fighting styles, you'd half expected to see someone pull a Hadouken or some shit, it was awesome!! Today it got too pro it's very technical and not as entertaining, they should bring the old format back, I want to see a Muay Thai fighter take on a Somo wrestler in a diaper as the main event after a Ninja fights a Capoeira dancer!

drkangel181 · 2023-10-14T20:53:34+00:00

Needs to go back to this to find out who really is the baddest mfr on the planet lol not that it will ever happen though lol

panchog · 2023-10-15T01:35:06+00:00

It’s been a minute but if this was in Denver, I was there. Saw the teeth knocked out, Sumo , kick box, wrestling, judo, BJJ, Gracie kill it. etc.. Craziest part I remember was more fights in the stands than in the ring. This was heyday of gang shit and everyone trying to be a badass. I was a ski bum that drove down from Breckenridge to check it out with free ticket. It was wild live. Fun times.

PersepolisBullseye · 2023-10-15T18:05:05+00:00

Had the first 30 on VHS purchased from weird AOL chatrooms. No one had any idea what we were buying and watching.

Parents came in once and their immigrant minds blown just asked “why won’t they get off the ground?”

This sport used to be so underground and as a result was so much fun for the fans that sought it out.

Many of those fighters and promoters faded away and UFC with it, until the bald steroid’d up idiot bought it and transformed it into extreme kickboxing.

Used to be a really fun thing and even with all its growth, Dana keeps 99% of the wealth and so the sport is NOT better off if the athletes are still not getting paid like shit. The entire sport is a commercial for crappy beer and energy drinks now.

Rant over lol

ParagonPts · 2023-10-14T21:38:35+00:00

This is actually the first televised UFC fight. There was an unaired alternate bout first where Jason DeLucia beat Trent Jenkins by RNC.

YourFaajhaa · 2023-10-14T22:03:09+00:00

Ref asking the corner 😂

Idunwantyourgarbage · 2023-10-14T22:49:20+00:00

Remember watching my this on VHS from blockbuster with my dad and his buddies in the mid 90s.

Been a ufc fan ever since

SnooHesitations5198 · 2023-10-14T23:15:21+00:00

the hawaian (?) guy reminds me of an "actor" who played a cook in Hawaii 5-0

followedbyferrets · 2023-10-15T00:03:13+00:00

I remember my buddies and I watching this stuff on VHS tapes. Multiple fights, and thinking “how is this skinny Gracie guy keep winning? This BJJ stuff is interesting. “

DeezNeezuts · 2023-10-15T00:22:33+00:00

King Hippo sucked

GeorgFestrunk · 2023-10-15T01:53:06+00:00

The old UFC was so much more fun than the modern version. All of us couldn’t wait for the next fight, you had no idea what was gonna happen and it was so insane that they had to fight multiple times in the same night so you could dominate, but if you hurt your hand, then they bring in a sub to take your place for the next round.

Yes, I know the modern fighters are more skillful but I’m watching for entertainment, and it used to be a hell of a lot more entertaining. Don Frye, Dan Severn, Tank Abbott! Then Pride when Fedor was God. Now? Who cares it’s a blur of sameness

Evolone100 · 2023-10-15T17:06:01+00:00

Looks like my guy from Hawaii five O

Former_Agent2285 · 2023-10-14T21:40:24+00:00

Dotted that eye right off the bat, lol.

2023-10-14T22:57:19+00:00

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Logical-Ad-5920 · 2023-10-14T22:57:22+00:00

Watched this live for my 16th birthday party. It. Was. Amazing!!!

johnnydorko · 2023-10-14T22:59:30+00:00

I still remember reading something about how that French kickboxer kicked him so hard that one tooth got lodged in his foot, and another went flying into the crowd

TomatilloUnlucky3763 · 2023-10-14T23:43:35+00:00

I was prepared to say this is why they have weight classes but never mind.

cnorw00d · 2023-10-15T00:04:09+00:00

back when ufc was IRL Tekken

HalfOrcMonk · 2023-10-15T04:46:24+00:00

I heard my grandfather say this all the time but it bears repeating: "It seems just like yesterday."

Ace-Ventura1934 · 2023-10-15T06:44:55+00:00

I remember watching this on VHS that year. I also remember seeing Hoyce Gracie come out for the first time and thought to myself, “that guy is going to get killed.” Boy was I wrong. But the most brutal UFC fight I’ve ever seen has to be the Dan Severn/ Oleg Taktarov fight that went for 40+ minutes and Oleg’s face was ground beef at the end. He absolutely refused to give up. Refs couldn’t stop the fight back then, only a tap out from a fighter. I think that was UFC 3 but not 100% sure.

Frenchconnection76 · 2023-10-15T08:17:33+00:00

Over the rainbow eat a kick.

Sammiewrestler · 2023-10-15T11:56:40+00:00

Is that Big guy on Hawaii 5-0?

Callmebobbyorbooby · 2023-10-15T13:50:47+00:00

Is that the sweet big Hawaiian from Forgetting Sarah Marshall?

Edit: holy shit it is. I never put that together.

LifeisWhy · 2023-10-15T16:50:32+00:00

I wonder where these dudes are now

Hairypotsmokr · 2023-10-15T18:16:45+00:00

These fights and the Pride fights were nuts!!

Poseidons_Butthole · 2023-10-15T22:52:55+00:00

The officiating in the old days of the UFC was a disaster.

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