The Silliest Fight in History and the Birth of MMA

What this episode is about

The discussion explores the origins of mixed martial arts (MMA) through the lens of professional wrestling, highlighting the influence of catch wrestling and key figures like Muhammad Ali. It traces the evolution of wrestling styles and their integration into modern combat sports, emphasizing historical moments and connections between various martial arts disciplines, particularly the impact of early catch wrestlers and the rise of professional wrestling in Japan.

Key takeaways

• Pro wrestling's catch wrestling roots provide a surprisingly legitimate blueprint for MMA techniques and holds.
• The allure of mixed martial arts owes much to pro wrestling's theatrics, blending sport with captivating storytelling.
• Muhammad Ali's unexpected involvement in a 'worked' fight foreshadowed the MMA revolution, though not without controversy.
• Japan's dojo system nurtured wrestlers into legit fighters, establishing a 'strong style' that prioritized realism over theatrics.
• Antonio Inoki's obsession with proving pro wrestling as a martial art paved the way for the MMA we're familiar with today.

Who speaks in this episode?

• Muhammad Ali (Host) · 2 min speaking
• Antonio Inoki (Guest) · 3 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 5:00: Carl Gotch, New Japan Pro Wrestling, Antonio Inoki, Ricky Dozen
2. 10:00 – 15:00: Carl Gotch, New Japan Pro Wrestling, Shuto, Jin Thunder Liger
3. 15:00 – 20:00: Haleo Gracie, Kazushi Sakuraba, Pancrase, Pride
4. 20:00 – 20:48: UFC

Notable quotes from "The Silliest Fight in History and the Birth of MMA"

• On to early TV screens, fewer and fewer practitioners of legitimate catch wrestling could be found. Among the last of the catch wrestlers involved in professional wrestling are…

  about Lou The Brit Billy Robinson · at 1:11

• He went on to surpass the JWA and established his own wrestling promotion that is still around today. When Antonio Ininoi opens the New Japan Pro Wrestling in 1972, he recruited shooters from the American wrestling scene to train the.

  about New Japan Pro Wrestling · at 2:16

• Wilhelm Ruska in 1976. That was not enough for Inokei and only the best would do and no one was better than Muhammad Ali. Also taking place in 1976, the match with Ali was to…

  about Antonio Inoki · at 3:54

• Was. With Ininoi as the top star of New Japan, the legitimate martial arts backgrounds and most recruits and dojo training under Gotch Robinson and the many of New Japan's…

  about Carl Gotch · at 13:09

• Sama wanted to develop it as both an organization and a martial arts all of its own. Shuto combined shoot wrestling with aspects of judo and kickboxing and it is recognized as…

  about Shuto · at 14:40

• Based around the legacy of the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu martial arts family, UFC was an extension of the Valet Tudo bounce in Brazil that pitted different fighting styles against each other. They was thought of by the Gracies to showcase.

  about UFC · at 17:18

• Facilitate the Takarda versus Gracie fight, Pride. Unfortunately, Takarta would lose. While Pride would be founded just to accommodate this fight, it would go on to become…

  about Pride · at 18:18

• Sakaraba move onto a career in pride where he became known as the Gracie Hunter having beat four Gracies by the time Pride shut its doors in 2007.

  about Kazushi Sakuraba · at 19:42

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Antonio Inoki — Person · Referenced pro-wrestling founder / MMA-proto figure · 1 mention · first at 3:58
  Presented as the architect of New Japan’s dojo/catch lineage and the driving force behind “real martial arts matches,” including the 1976 bout with Ali.
• Kazushi Sakuraba — Person · Referenced MMA fighter / exemplar of shoot-wrestling crossover · 2 mentions · first at 19:25
  Used as the key example of a shoot-wrestling product who succeeded in real MMA (UFC Japan, PRIDE) and became the “Gracie Hunter,” validating the episode’s thesis.
• Haleo Gracie — Person · Referenced BJJ champion / foil to shoot wrestling · 4 mentions · first at 17:18
  Used as the emblem of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu’s challenge to shoot wrestling (the Anjo gym fight) and as a catalyst for PRIDE’s founding narrative.
  Based around the legacy of the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu martial arts family, UFC was an extension of the Valet Tudo bounce in Brazil that pitted different fighting styles against each other. They was.
• Carl Gotch — Person · Referenced catch-wrestling trainer / lineage figure · 3 mentions · first at 1:21
  Cited as one of the last legitimate catch wrestlers in pro wrestling and as a key shooter/trainer brought into New Japan’s dojo system to preserve catch wrestling.
• Ricky Dozen — Person · Referenced Japanese pro-wrestling pioneer · 1 mention · first at 1:36
  Positioned as a foundational figure who helped establish Japanese pro wrestling’s institutional training model (dojo system) via JWA, enabling later strong-style/shoot lineage.
  Ricky Dozen founded the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance or JWA. Put the first wrestling matches on TV and established the Japanese mold of wrestling training.
• Lou The Brit Billy Robinson — Person · Referenced catch-wrestling practitioner/trainer · 1 mention · first at 1:14
  Named as one of the last legitimate catch wrestlers in pro wrestling and as a shooter recruited to train NJPW dojo talent, reinforcing the catch-to-MMA lineage.
• Jedoka Wilhelm Ruska — Person · Referenced opponent / early ‘mixed rules’ match participant · 1 mention · first at 3:49
  Mentioned as Inoki’s earlier high-profile ‘real martial arts match’ opponent (1976), setting the stage for the Ali bout.
  The match with Ali was to be held in Japan and was broadcast in close circuit TV in New York. The match was first set to proceed like the Vilham Ruska match, a worked wrestling…
• Jin Thunder Liger — Person · Referenced gimmick persona (likely Jushin Thunder Liger) · 1 mention · first at 12:50
  Paired with Tiger Mask as a household-name example of NJPW’s character-based presentation, contrasting spectacle with the shoot/strong-style thread.
  Compared to American pro- wrestling, it was still pro- wrestling. An important gimmick was purchasing the rights to comic book and anime intellectual properties and handing the persona off to a wrestler to portray in the ring.
• Tiger Mask — Person · Referenced gimmick persona (masked wrestler character) · 1 mention · first at 12:52
  Mentioned as an example of NJPW’s use of licensed comic/anime personas assigned to wrestlers, illustrating pro-wrestling theatrics alongside ‘legitimacy.’
  Gimmick was purchasing the rights to comic book and anime intellectual properties and handing the persona off to a wrestler to portray in the ring.

Companies & orgs

• UFC — Company · 2 mentions · first at 17:12
• Pride — Company · 1 mention · first at 18:23
• New Japan Pro Wrestling — Company · 4 mentions · first at 2:22
• Shuto — Company · 2 mentions · first at 14:38
• Pancrase — Company · 2 mentions · first at 16:08
  Direction she shoot wrestling was going and split from the scene to found what is usually considered the first proper MMA promotion. Pancrass in 1993.
• JWA — Company · 1 mention · first at 1:38
  Ricky Dozen founded the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance or JWA. Put the first wrestling matches on TV and established the Japanese mold of wrestling training.
• Universal Wrestling Federation — Company · 1 mention · first at 13:44
  Many of New Japan's shooters out of the company and founded the Universal Wrestling Federation. At first, the UWF was just like any other wrestling promotion, but soon a…

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 Ever watch pro wrestling and ask yourself, could those move work in a real fight? If we're talking about spectacular finishers like the Canadian Destroyer, one-winged Angel, or the F5, the answer is, well, probably not. If we're talking about the holds rooted in catch wrestling, then not only is it wholeheartedly yes, but there is a history to their use in legitimate mixed martial arts bouts. In fact, professional wrestling has a long history in the foundations of MMA as a sport. The history starts with one of the most celebrated personalities in combat sports, Muhammad Ali, and what many call the first mixed martial arts match. You heard of thriller in Manila and Rumble in the jungle, Muhammad Ali's greatest matches. Then how come you haven't heard about this one? Well, today we're going to discover how early hookers, shooters, and their Japanese students helped spark the revolutionary

0:44 modern sport of mixed martial arts with an important contribution from Muhammad Ali and modern pro- wrestling and MMA figures. Professional wrestling has catch wrestling as its legitimate base. Catch wrestling was developed in Lancaster, England, and supplanted collar and elbow and Greco Roman as the main styles of professional wrestling by the early 1900s. Soon a worked or staged version of catch wrestling bounce would follow, pushed by promoters. After World War II, as professional wrestling moved on to early TV screens, fewer and fewer practitioners of legitimate catch wrestling could be found. Among the last of the catch wrestlers involved in professional wrestling are American Lou The Brit Billy Robinson and Belgian Carl Gotch. World War II also saw professional wrestling finally root itself in Japanese soil with the first tours of professional wrestling attracting practitioners of two more

1:32 martial arts, sumo wrestling and judo. One notable sumo wrestler turned professional was Koreanborn Ricky Dozen. Ricky Dozen founded the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance or JWA. Put the first wrestling matches on TV and established the Japanese mold of wrestling training. Based on the Sumo Stable System, where trainee lived and learned in the brutal setting at the hands of their established stalemates, the wrestling dojo system was born. In these dojoos, trainees would undergo brutal training unseen in the American scene. Often, this heavily focused on catch wrestling fundamentals with regular sparring as the norm. Between the dojo system and early Japanese wrestlers sumo and judo backgrounds, Japanese wrestlers were eager to prove themselves as legitimate fighters. Ricardo's breakout student Antonio Ininoi trained in the JWA dojo.

2:16 He went on to surpass the JWA and established his own wrestling promotion that is still around today. When Antonio Ininoi opens the New Japan Pro Wrestling in 1972, he recruited shooters from the American wrestling scene to train the next generation of wrestlers for New Japan. These trainers and active wrestlers for the promotion included Gotch, Thieves, and Robinson. Each saw the decline of catch wrestling in America and took the opportunity to keep it alive in these Japanese dojoos. In both Japan and America, shoot or legitimate catch wrestling belts almost always remained behind closed doors in sparring practice. Ininoi, the main drawing wrestler of his promotion, set the style for all recruits, and it was this Lancasher catch wrestling that all New Japan dojo students would be trained in. Japanese wrestlers intense training, martial arts backgrounds, and now very solid foundation in catch wrestling led

3:01 to a technical and hard-hitting style called strong style. Strong style differentiated itself from the established American style for focusing more on strikes and submission wrestling. The matches showcased a higher level of intensity that has a more legitimate sporting feel to it as opposed to the dramatics of professional wrestling in America. That's not to say that Japan was devoid of theatrics. Far from it. matches could end in bizarre interferences and the storytelling was still a part of the medium. The theatrics will also play a part of the rise of MMA as it still and always has been a major draw for mixed martial arts audiences. Professional wrestling's legitimacy as a martial art became an obsession with New Japan's founder Antonio Ininoi wanted desperately to prove pro wrestling as a martial art that he began pursuing what he called real martial arts matches, a worked version of what we know today as mixed

3:49 martial arts. His first of such matches was with Olympic gold medalist Jedoka Wilhelm Ruska in 1976. That was not enough for Inokei and only the best would do and no one was better than Muhammad Ali. Also taking place in 1976, the match with Ali was to be held in Japan and was broadcast in close circuit TV in New York. The match was first set to proceed like the Vilham Ruska match, a worked wrestling match. But something shook Ali's corner. It should be noted that Muhammad Ali was actually a big fan of pro wrestling and gorgeous George Vagnner, a very successful wrestler who had a larger than life heel gimmick during the early TV era. The story differs about what happened behind the scenes. But someone in Ali's corner thought it was a career-destroying move to hold a worked fight. The solution turned the fight into a shoot. A real wrestling versus boxing match. The first mixed martial arts bout. If you're

4:40 confused about why you may not have heard about this match, there's a reason. to appease Ali's corner, Ininoi had to agree to a lot of rules that essentially handicapped him and ultimately made the match a farce. So, what happened exactly with all this? For starters, although the eventual fight that took place between Anino and Ali was genuine, it's contested whether Ali's camp knew this from the start. You see, at this point, Enokei was already pretty famous in Japan for arranging similar fights with other famous fighters, pitting their skills against his own unique brand of wrestling, dubbed Strong Style. These matches were clearly fixed and often ended in a spectacularly theatrical way. For example, in one match against a karate expert, Eninoi won by powerbombing his opponent to the ground and knocking him out with a leg drop. Allah Hulk Hogan.

5:21 In another, the match was declared a draw when both combatants inexplicably fell out of the ring at the exact same time. Although, as noted, Ininoi did take part in legitimate fights. Ali's camp and the man himself, according to many, similarly assumed the fight would be fixed. In fact, in an interview from the time, Ali was quoted as saying, "What I've promised to do is an exhibition fight. Inokei will not be hitting me with full force." Exactly how this match would have been fixed isn't clear. Although the most commonly touted version of the original scripted end of the fight was, according to sports journalist Jim Murphy, to have Ali accidentally punch the referee. A concerned Ali would then bend over to check on him, at which point Anokei would kick him in the head. Ali would go down, the ref would miraculously recover and declare Anokei the winner when Oi didn't get back up. This would thus see

6:06 in no the villain. But Victor, while Ali would only have lost because of his outstanding character and being more concerned with the well-being of the ref instead of winning the match. Of course, as anyone who's ever researched anything about Ali can probably deduce, the fact that he'd lose, however, noly, allegedly didn't sit well with Ali, and he ultimately decided he wouldn't go along with any version of the fight which would see him lose. The script needed to be rewritten. The problem at this point was that Inokei also allegedly refused to lose. That said, a competing version of the events leading up to the fight touted by the Japanese media and Noki himself is that the fight was always intended to be real and that Ali's cap made the mistake of assuming otherwise until the boxer arrived in Japan.

6:46 According to this version of the story, Ali only realized the fight would be genuine upon seeing the intensity with which Ininoi was training with Ali watching him fell a series of sparring partners with devastating drop kicks and throws. Upon seeing this, the champ realized that Ininoi was taking the fight altogether more seriously than he was. something that was confirmed when he asked Ininoi when they were going to rehearse only to have the wrestler reportedly respond, "No, no, this isn't an exhibition. It's a real fight."

7:13 Whatever the truth of the events that led up to Ali realizing the fight was going to be genuine, we know that upon learning this information, his camp scrambled to find a way to hamper Ininoi's, as he called it, burning fighting spirit. So, a few days before the fight was set to take place, Ali's camp forced Ininoi to agree to a few new rules that would basically see Ininoi having to fight with one arm tied behind his back. Specifically, these rules forbade Inokei from using any wrestling techniques, especially drop kicks, and even from throwing kicks unless one knee was on the mat. No such restrictions were placed on Ali, who was free to do anything he pleased within the bounds of the standard rules previously agreed upon. Furthermore, Ali's camp told Ininoi that these restrictions couldn't be publicized and that if they went to the media with any of the demands they had made, Ali would refuse to take part

7:58 and head home. Not wanting to upset any of the thousands of fans who bought tickets to see the fight live and the millions set to watch around the world, let alone the potentially lucrative payday for himself that he'd been training hard for, Ininoi begrudgingly agreed to the terms. Speaking of which, the match, although largely an embarrassing footnote in Ali's otherwise celebrated career today, was massive news at the time. Along with selling out the Nip and Bedoken in Tokyo, where the match was set to take place, the bout also sold out a stadium in the US. How?

8:24 Well, sensing that the match would be a big draw, wrestling promoter Vince McMahon senior, not to be confused with his son, the current CEO of the WWE, arranged to have it screened at Sha Stadium in New York, preceding the whole thing with an exhibition match between Andre the Giant and boxer Chuck Wetner. In addition to these crowds, a reported 1 billion people were expected to watch the match on TV sets around the world. Though of course that reported number, as ever when it comes to sporting events, with the Super Bowl being the most notorious for this, was grossly exaggerated. Nevertheless, the crowds were massive, drawn to watch the fight by the pre-match antics of both fighters who spent the weeks leading up to the bout openly mocking one another. Alley, in particular, bragged to the Guardian at the time, "The guy comes for me, I just jab him. Bop bop bop. He can't get close enough. What's karate from a

9:11 distance man? Nothing. When I've jabbed him enough, I'll knock him out. Inokei similarly made fun of Ali, bringing a crutch to their first pre-fight conference and telling the boxer it needed after he broke his leg by throwing him out of the ring. With all this bluster and bravado on display, along with a combined total of $10 million, $67 million today to go to the fighters, 60% Ali and the remaining two in Noki and the title of toughest man on the planet up for grabs. The fight was set to be one for the history books. And in some ways, it kind of was. Throughout the match, which went to decision after 15 rounds, Muhammad Ali, the self-professed greatest of all time, threw a mere six punches. You see, in what has been described as 15 rounds of pure slapstick, Ininoi spent almost the entire fight scooting around the ring on his backside, tirelessly chasing Ali and peppering his thighs with lunging kicks

10:00 delivered safely from the fetal position. You see, in what you have to admit was a pretty ingenious strategy, Ininoi realized that he could circumvent all of the rules imposed on him and nullify Ali's ability to punch him by simply delivering all of his kicks from the floor. Ali had literally no counter to this tactic as to get in for a punch and have to come close enough to be susceptible to a lightning fast crushing kick. Thus, he spent the 15 rounds yelling at Inokei, taunting him to fight like a man instead of a genius.

10:28 apparently in between trying to kick his feet away and occasionally when Inokei would manage to corner him, climbing on the roads to try and protect his legs from the barrage of kicks. Beyond being an effective defense in the sixth round, Inokei caught Ali with a leg hold and brought him down before sitting on his face and hitting him in the chin with an elbow, the latter of which the judges deemed to be a foul. This infuriated Ali, who threw his first punch of the bout in the next round. Ali's second punch wouldn't be thrown until the 10th.

10:53 As the match wore on with Ali finding himself unable to coax Anokei to stand up, his legs began to swell up and were peppered with bruises from the constant assault. His trainers, feeling something was a miss, initially assumed Anokei had something hidden in his boots. But after a search was conducted, it turns out that Ininoi, even just lying on the floor, could simply kick really, really hard. As a compromise, however, at some point, one of Inokei's boots was taped up, reportedly to stop his shoelaces whipping against Ali's thighs. The back and forth between the two men continued until the final bell of the 15th round.

11:22 Although Eninoi was technically up by three points because he was the only one to score any really clean hits, they were deducted for the elbow that he threw in the sixth round and the whole thing was declared a draw. If ending in a tie wasn't upsetting enough to those watching, throughout the entire bout, the crowd in attendance had begun throwing garbage into the ring and chanting for their money back. Nobody, it seems, was very happy with the spectacle. Again, it's important to note here that the audience the world over wasn't aware of the restrictions placed on Ininoi at this point. Inoki only explaining himself after the fact and they were none too pleased by his odd strategy which resulted in very little actual fighting in the traditional sense. Nevertheless, both men were quite injured. You see, it turns out that at some point in the match, Inokei managed to break some of the bones in his foot

12:03 with the force of the kicks. So, he was dling out on Ali. Ali, on the other hand, ended up suffering from two severe blood clots and his leg became infected to the point that it nearly had to be amputated. In any event, for Anokei, this match ultimately damaged his reputation and almost drove off fans completely. Wrestling didn't win and was made to look weak. Fans tired of Inokeoki's chase of real martial arts, something Ininoi continued to do regardless. To his credit, by chasing other martial artists, he did redeem the Muhammad Ali fight. But the fans did not appreciate seeing so many martial artists attempt professional wrestling when they could not wrestle a worked style, an issue that would haunt throughout his career. Despite dabbling with what would soon be Mike's martial arts, New Japan Pro Wrestling was still a wrestling company. And even though it strove for a more realistic presentation

12:46 compared to American pro- wrestling, it was still pro- wrestling. An important gimmick was purchasing the rights to comic book and anime intellectual properties and handing the persona off to a wrestler to portray in the ring. Two such wrestlers became household names in Japan and the US. Jin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask. Many of wrestlers trained in legit martial arts and catch wrestling and strove for something more serious despite how grueling the star was. With Ininoi as the top star of New Japan, the legitimate martial arts backgrounds and most recruits and dojo training under Gotch Robinson and the many of New Japan's rising stars sought a purer form of wrestling that toned down the theatrics and showcased their true strengths as martial artists.

13:25 Inokei also acted as a glass ceiling and often did not like to lose cleanly, opting for a countout loss to preserve his own reputation. Many wrestlers resented Ininoi's long shadow. He was caught diverting funds from New Japan to a personal project and many found it to be the right time to leave. In 1984, former business partner Hashi Shinma led many of New Japan's shooters out of the company and founded the Universal Wrestling Federation. At first, the UWF was just like any other wrestling promotion, but soon a distinct and fresh style emerged. Wrestlers started wrestling much closer to the catch wrestling they did in the back. Fight seemed real and was exciting for both the talent and audience. The matches are much closer to mixed martial arts as we know it today. This gave rise to a new wrestling style in Japan. Shoot wrestling, a clear proto MMA style. To be clear, the matches were worked with

14:10 predetermined finishes, but the wrestlers were encouraged to hook submissions and hit as hard as if they were in a real fight. The star focused on realistic matches without any of the gimmick stipulations or bizarre finishes like ring countdowns, making fights feel even more real. This experiment was short-lived when two active performers and founders could not agree on the direction of the company, ending in a match that turned into a real fight. In 1985, the promotion shut down and talent went back to New Japan except for Sattorro Siama. Siamama decided that he could no longer be a pro wrestler and opened a new organization called Shuto.

14:40 Sama wanted to develop it as both an organization and a martial arts all of its own. Shuto combined shoot wrestling with aspects of judo and kickboxing and it is recognized as a forerunner of modern MMA. The WWF would restart again in 1988 to last another two years and shutter in 1990. This newborn UWF brought back many of the wrestlers from the first UWF including the founders as well as Nabiko Takada, his protege Yoji Ano, and newer faces Minor Suzuki and Masakatu Faki. All of these names would have future shoot wrestling and MMA promotions founded by them or built around them. Outside of New Japan, foreigners joined the company that would go on to be MMA's earliest stars such as Ken Shamrock, Bart Vale, Chris Dolman, and others. Chem Shangrock would be MMA's earliest crossover star and he opened gyms in America to spread shoot wrestling and MMA. After its closing and a stim back in New Japan pro- wrestling

15:33 as an invading group of wrestlers, Nabiko Takarda founded another successor to the UWF. This time the Union of Professional Wrestling Forces International or WFI in 1991 as well as other veterans forming their own offshoots. Each continued the new style of shoot wrestling with a different emphasis on how real the matches were. Takado was more willing to mix in professional wrestling theatrics in the UWFI while others tended to keep a more realistic atmosphere. Each promotion saw a proliferation of future MMA and professional wrestling stars from Japan and the world. Eventually, Faki, Shamrock, and Suzuki did not like the direction she shoot wrestling was going and split from the scene to found what is usually considered the first proper MMA promotion. Pancrass in 1993.

16:12 Pancrass was named Bar Goch after the Greek combat sport of pancration and it was even closer to the mold of modern MMA promotion and fighting style. It should be noted that for all these promotions fans were fooled. They were convinced that what they were watching was 100% real. Learning from the pro wrestling business, each of these companies founders learned that it was better to build up opponents rather than having the roster be destroyed by a dominant fighter. At the end of the day, the fights were still professional wrestling, but it looked more like dynamic mixed martial arts bout.

16:42 Pancrass, in particular, had a massive cloud of doubt hanging over it with former fighters debating whether or not the matches were a work or not. Like Shuto, only Pancrass survives to this day and is considered a legitimate MMA promotion, even if its early days are still held in suspicion. Other organizations joined the ranks in which only matches on the main card were worked, and the lower card matches were completely real. Each promotion maintained a JoJo system like the kind pioneered by Ricardo and Antonio Eninoi to produce many of the future stars of pro wrestling, MMA, and the overlapping shoot style. By this point, the first UFC show was held in 1993 and was a far cry from the unified rules of today.

17:18 Based around the legacy of the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu martial arts family, UFC was an extension of the Valet Tudo bounce in Brazil that pitted different fighting styles against each other. They was thought of by the Gracies to showcase the strength of their Brazilian jiu-jitsu. The Gracies are notoriously snobby and looked down upon many disciplines, most severely professional wrestling. Shoot wrestling organizations had to answer the call, and it seemed that the Gracies could hold their own against any professional wrestler that came their way. Noahiko Takarta, still with the UWFI, sent his pupil, Eugi Anno, to challenge Ricken Gracie in Los Angeles in 1994. Anjo met with press after arriving in America jetlagged and tired and proceeded right away to Rickson's gym to challenge him. Rickson accepted the challenge, denied press access to the fight, and won. The press could only take pictures of severely

18:05 battered Anjo as he stepped out of Rickson's gym. This fight embarrassed the shoot wrestling world, and for years, fans would urge Dicard to avenge his pupil's loss by taking on RX and Gracie himself. This would lead to the foundation of Japan's premier mixed martial arts company in 1997 just to facilitate the Takarda versus Gracie fight, Pride. Unfortunately, Takarta would lose. While Pride would be founded just to accommodate this fight, it would go on to become Japan's leading MMA organization, sweeping aside legitimate and semi-legitimate companies like Shuto and Pancrass, burying Shuto style organizations overnight, exposing them for being just another work. Pride carried the more outlandish spectacle of pro wrestling with freak fights that pit size versus skill and a marketing machine that rivaled modern-day WWE in its colorfulness. For 10 years, pride burned bright. Some matches such as

18:51 those done to build up to Carter after his loss against Rickson were worked or at least rigged, but most of its matches were indeed real. It was a place for shoot wrestlers to put up their skills against judokas, kickboxers, and much more. It was a proper mixed martial arts organization, and it pillaged talent from the surviving chute wrestling organization. One such immigrant from shoot wrestling was Kazushi Sakaraba. Sakaraba toiled in the UWFI until his mentor, Takarta, lost that fight against Ricken in pride. He wished to transition to mixed martial arts and learned from Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners to help him learn to counter a style thought to be immune to shoot wrestling.

19:25 He participated in UFC Japan and beat BJJ fighter Marcus Sylviera to prove Shoot Wrestling had a chance against Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. After all, according to Sakuraba, he was barely in shape for the fight and he spent the previous night playing Pokémon on his Game Boy. His 1997 victory in UFC Japan saw Sakaraba move onto a career in pride where he became known as the Gracie Hunter having beat four Gracies by the time Pride shut its doors in 2007. Sakaraba redeemed Shu to professional wrestling and exposed Chinx in the Brazilian jiu-jitsu's armor. Pride lasted longer than any other shoe wrestling promotion. But it still did not outlast its main competitor, the UFC. In 2006, it lost its TV deal with Fuji TV due to its shady connections to organized crime. In 2007, it was bought by UFC's parent company, but they could not negotiate a new TV deal with any Japanese network. It is fair to say that

20:11 MMA is dead in Japan, as no organization could fill the vacuum left behind by Pride. Eventually, kickboxing and professional wrestling would attract some of that audience, but the damage was done and MMA is no longer the force that it used to be in Japan. Today, the submission wrestling popularized by Shoot Wrestling is recognized as one of the many important building blocks to modern MMA. With the adoption of unified rules, the UFC reached mainstream popularity and mixed martial arts spread from state to state and country to country. What started as an unmemorable match between Antonio Inokei and Muhammad Ali was just a taste of the revolution to come. And it all started with professional wrestling.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "The Silliest Fight in History and the Birth of MMA"?

Muhammad Ali (Host), Antonio Inoki (Guest).

What is "The Silliest Fight in History and the Birth of MMA" about?

The discussion explores the origins of mixed martial arts (MMA) through the lens of professional wrestling, highlighting the influence of catch wrestling and key figures like Muhammad Ali. It traces the evolution of wrestling styles and their integration into modern combat sports, emphasizing historical moments and connections between various martial arts disciplines, particularly the impact of…

What is mentioned in this Today I Found Out episode?

16 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Antonio Inoki, UFC, Kazushi Sakuraba, Pride, New Japan Pro Wrestling, Haleo Gracie. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "The Silliest Fight in History and the Birth of MMA"?

The episode runs 21 min; the transcript is about 4,258 words in 31 timestamped sections.

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