ESB's "Unofficial" MMA Champs, 1881 to 1993

Stoo · Sep 15, 2011

Just reading up on this guy

Giovanni Raicevich

In Europe, around the 19th century, the Italian Giovanni Raicevich, skilled in Greco-Roman wrestling defeated Akitaro Ono, a Japanese heavyweight fighter skilled in Jujutsu, Judo, and Sumo, throwing him on the mat by one-arm shoulder throw.
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I cant find a confirmation of the date though, but he had a distinguished career

Career

Giovanni Raicevich was born to a Slovene family at Trieste then part of the Austro Hungarian Empire. He belonged to a family of champions of Greco-Roman wrestling, who were famous, but low-key, his brothers were Roberto Massimo and Emilio Ruggerio Raičević. Giovanni Raičević, began his activities by opening a gym in Trieste , aided by his brothers. In 1902 they travelled to Alexandria where all three became Italian champions in three different categories. Although they were from Austro Hungary they pursued their careers in Italy. After the First World War Trieste became part of Italy.

In 1905 he won the International Tournaments of Liège, of Krefeld and Westphalia in addition to the European Championship. In 1906 he won the South America championship. In 1907 he became world champion by beating the French champion Laurent le Beaucairois. He repeated the success on the 16 February 1909 at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan, against the French Paul Pons, one of the best wrestlers of all time. He was also champion Italy in the specialty without interruption from 1907 to 1929, when he left unbeaten competitive sport after his triumph against the Czech Hans Kavan.

Despite his height of only 1.72 meters (with a weight which ranged from 82 kg in 1902 to 110 kg in the 1912), he fought against people who were of higher stature and was always the winner. His physical strength won him parts cinema chromatography in several films in the series Maciste, including L'Uommo de la foresta of 1922 directed by Roman director Ubaldo Maria Del Colle.

In 1915 during the First World War, he served in the 'Army and fought on the Italian side at Piave and' Isonzo.

He spent his retirement living with the 5000 lire per month pension from CONI. He died in Rome, at the age of seventy-six, on November 1, 1957.
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Ai-edy2007 · Sep 15, 2011

wheres sakuraba's wrestling matches.

Lefthooktommy · Sep 15, 2011

Mitsuyo Maeda

Maeda was fundamental to the development of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu through his teaching of the Gracie family.[3] He was also a promoter of Japanese emigration to Brazil. Maeda won more than 2,000 professional fights in his career. His accomplishments led to him being called the "toughest man who ever lived" and being referred to as the father of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.[4]
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[ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsuyo_Maeda[/ame]

Will Cooling · Sep 16, 2011

I think some of the catch wrestlers like Billy Robinson and Karl Gotch would be up there but its hard to look beyond Brazilian Vale Tudo.

sugarngold · Sep 16, 2011

Stoo said: ↑

And Inoki defeated Ali in 76, not really sure if that fight should be considered a work or not though.
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Officially that was a draw, Stoo. And a dreadful one at that!

greathamza · Sep 16, 2011

Stoo said: ↑

And Inoki defeated Ali in 76, not really sure if that fight should be considered a work or not though.
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Didnt that fight end in a draw cuz Ali didnt want to go down?

Stoo · Sep 16, 2011

sugarngold said: ↑

Officially that was a draw, Stoo. And a dreadful one at that!
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I have no idea what the result was tbh fella, think I could only get through the whole ''fight'' once. Pretty sure Inoki just leg kicked him for the duration though, right?

Will Cooling · Sep 17, 2011

Inoki-Ali was a work that turned into a shoot.

Inoki started doing 'mixed martial arts' fights, working with champions from other disciplines and putting himself over as this unstoppable fighting machine. He offered Ali $5million to come and do the same. Ali as a fan of US pro-wrestling eagerly accepted - even did some angles with Gorilla Monsoon to build it up before flying to Japan (Vince McMahon Sr. was one of the key figures behind the fight's US distribution).

However things went wrong when Ali got to Tokyo. He soon realized that the Japanese took pro-wrestling much more seriously than Americas and started to have a crisis of conscience about throwing a fight. He refused to lose and so the worked match turned into a shoot fight. At this point Ali's camp tried to rig the result by gerrmandering the rules. Inoki was not allowed to take Ali down and he couldn't throw a kick unless the other knee was on the mat.

Even with these restrictions Inoki clearly defeated Ali - knowing what we know the leg kicks he landed throughout the fight were devastatingly effective and hastened Ali's decline in footwork and legstrength. Problem was that it was so far removed from what people watching thought a fight was that it was ruled a draw by bemused/baffled judges.

Stoo · Sep 17, 2011

Good info there, cheers Will.

Primate · Sep 17, 2011

I thought he had to have a hand on the mat and wasn't allowed to kick to the head?

sugarngold · Sep 17, 2011

That's what I said - a draw. :good

Ali had surgery on his knees after the Inoki fight and then went on to defend his championship against Ken Norton in their third match.

scurlaruntings · Sep 17, 2011

This is why you should post more often Cross T. :love

cross_trainer · Sep 17, 2011

scurlaruntings said: ↑

This is why you should post more often Cross T. :love
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Any nominations that come to mind?

cross_trainer · Sep 17, 2011

Added Mitsuyo Maeda after Jeffries' retirement.

rekcutnevets · Sep 17, 2011

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/653980-history-of-jiu-jitsu-baptism-by-fire-and-luta-livre

But in the 1940s a true challenger to Jiu Jitsu would rise in Brazil and spark a heated rivalry of schools and style that still continues in modern MMA.
Tatu003_crop_340x234 Euclydes "Tatu" Hatem

In 1940, Euclydes "Tatu" Hatem submitted George Gracie using his own from of grappling called Luta Livre.

Hatem paired judo submission locks with catch wrestling to create a reaction to jiu jitsu strikingly similar to the 1970s rise of Shoot in Japan.

Both arts scoffed at the use of gi, focusing only on no-gi grappling and made extensive use of leg locks which both Judo and Jiu Jitsu mostly ignored.

'Luta Livre' became a catch-all phrase for many in Brazil and could describe any number of no-gi grappling styles.

There were socio-economic and racial elements to this rivalry also, the Gracies were a very well-to-do family before their entry into grappling, and their fees for lessons were enough that Jiu Jitsu was a martial art of the middle and upper class in Brazil, who were predominately light skinned.

Luta Livre became the martial art of the lower class in Brazil, many who were descended from African slaves. (This tension is one that persists today and is behind Anderson Silvas "Where is your Jiu Jitsu now playboy?" taunt to Demian Maia during UFC 111.)

The battle between the styles would consume the Brazilian martial arts world for decades to come, and it would be the children of Carlos and Helio who would fight these battles.
Carlson Gracie (dark trunks) vs Waldemar Santana (white trunks)

The general in the field for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was Carlos oldest son Carlson Gracie. Helio had opened his own Academy teaching Gracie Jiu Jitsu by the 1950s, but he only taught the basic positions and basic self-defense.

The advance techniques were reserved for only members of the Gracie family. This practice was only reinforced when one of Helios own students, Valdemar Santana, challenged him to match and defeated his teacher after 3 hours of grappling.

Carlson made his name as a 23-year-old by avenging the loss of the aging Helio by beating Santana three times and drawing twice.

Carlson had great success in Vale Tudo matches and became the most sought after Jiu Jitsu instructor in Brazil.
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[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYOnrcLLIb0&feature=player_embedded[/ame]

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ESB's "Unofficial" MMA Champs, 1881 to 1993

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ESB's "Unofficial" MMA Champs, 1881 to 1993

Stoo Obsessed with Boxing banned

Ai-edy2007 STOCKTON 209 MOTHER****ER Full Member

Lefthooktommy Natural Born Killer Full Member

Will Cooling Boxing Addict Full Member

sugarngold RIDDUM Full Member

greathamza Boxing Junkie Full Member

Stoo Obsessed with Boxing banned

Will Cooling Boxing Addict Full Member

Stoo Obsessed with Boxing banned

Primate Boxing Addict Full Member

sugarngold RIDDUM Full Member

scurlaruntings ESB 2002 Club Full Member

cross_trainer Liston was good, but no "Tire Iron" Jones Full Member

cross_trainer Liston was good, but no "Tire Iron" Jones Full Member

rekcutnevets Black Sash Full Member

Ai-edy2007 *STOCKTON 209 MOTHER****ER* Full Member