Bare Knuckle Boxing

B.D.P wrote:I've seen Thompson talking about that.

Even he was taking the piss out of himself about it 

Thompson's biggest claim to fame was beating Don " The Predator " Frye when Frye was coming to the end of his career. Frye would have made a great bare knuckle fighter because he didn't know the meaning of surrender.

This is the best fight ever. Frye v Takayama. So much at stake with all the pre-fight hype. USA v Japan. All the trash talking beforehand. Pearl Harbour and Hiroshima and Nagasaki revisited and all that nonsense that goes before a big fight.. They were not just fighting for themselves, they were representing their nation. 6ft 1 and 15 stone v 6ft 6 and 21 stone. I have never seen anything quite like it. Don't fcuk with the Predator is all I can say.

I've seen Frye get decked in a hotel lobby by Dog the Bounty Hunters bodyguard.

He was shitfaced at the time apparently.

B.D.P wrote:I've seen Frye get decked in a hotel lobby by Dog the Bounty Hunters bodyguard.

He was shitfaced at the time apparently.

Why does Dog the Bounty Hunter need a bodyguard?

Frye likes a drink but when he had a point to prove he used to go on the wagon and really train hard. His fight with the " Worlds Most Dangerous Man " was a classic example. Shamrock taking the mickey out of him before the fight and Don replying with a perfect riposte. Brilliant.

Dog is about 5'5 in real life.

Apparently after he got twatted first time Frye went and had a few coffees, got cleaned up and then went and asked Dogs bodyguard to step outside.

Went outside and got knocked spark out 

Frye was the only one to go from MMA to K1. That takes balls and he was getting on in years as well. He fought the fearsome K1 Heavyweight champion Jerome Le Banner under K1 rules. He admitted later that he took the fight because the money was enough to put his daughters through college. I like Frye. A straight talking no bullshit individual who just fought for a living to put food on the table for his family. A true warrior.

I like Frye.

Him, Shamrock and the Gracie's were some of the first real fighters I'd ever seen.

Think they'd struggle against some of today's fighters though. Even at their peak.

How come they are wearing gloves? That's not the bare knuckle boxing I'm familiar with.

wanderlust wrote:How come they are wearing gloves? That's not the bare knuckle boxing I'm familiar with.

Early UFC fights were all bare knuckle but a number of fighters including Ken Shamrock kept breaking their hands. Back then they were 8 man fighting tournaments with no time limit. You had to win 3 fights on the night to win the UFC back then.

Some of the fights back then were total mismatches and because there were no rules the authorities had to look at introducing regulations to make the sport more mainstream. The UFC was banned from having shows in nearly 90% of all the American States back then. It's easy to see why!

I've seen some other early mma events where they're allowed to kick each other in the nuts and headbutt.

Reebok Trotter wrote:

wanderlust wrote:How come they are wearing gloves? That's not the bare knuckle boxing I'm familiar with.

Early UFC fights were all bare knuckle but a number of fighters including Ken Shamrock kept breaking their hands. Back then they were 8 man fighting tournaments with no time limit. You had to win 3 fights on the night to win the UFC back then.

Some of the fights back then were total mismatches and because there were no rules the authorities had to look at introducing regulations to make the sport more mainstream. The UFC was banned from having shows in nearly 90% of all the American States back then. It's easy to see why!

That's more like what I remember. When did Elf and Safety start to run the show?

The UFC was being pilloried as a blood sport and was being described as human cock fighting. The Nevada State Athletic Commission introduced rules which were implemented around about UFC 8 or 9.

The Brazilians are the worst. They have an annual event called Vale Tudo ( Anything Goes ). The Smashing Machine, Mark Kerr, won it and became an overnight MMA legend.

The documentary about his life is very interesting.

There's a few early Dutch mma fights on youtube.

Seen one with Geoff Capes fighting a while back