Has there not been any MMA representation of ninjutsu since the pioneer days?

...ie like Scott Morris and Steve Jennum in the second, third, and fourth UFC tournaments?

Hatsumi - the scion of Takamatsu, aka "Mōko no Tora (Mongolian Tiger)" and "The Last Shinobi" - apparently still teaches in Chiba even though he's pushing 90. That means he outlasted his rogue American pupil Robert Bussey (coach of Morris in UFC 2) by a couple of decades.

I remember when Lyota Machida hit the scene his catchphrase was "karate is back" - although in reality there was never any lengthy absence of karatekas in MMA. There may not have been too many whose primary discipline was listed as Shōtōkan like him, but there was probably never a shortage of people that incorporated some background if not active ongoing practice into their overall cross-training...as by his day pretty much everybody used more or less the same base disciplinary elements (the 'big 3/4' of wrestling, boxing and jiu-jitsu...with perhaps Muay Thai coming nearest to as essential and universal in MMA gyms). But truly if somebody did pop up today showing off proportionately as much ninpō in his game as Machida did karate, it would be the first time it was displayed in 2½ decades.

And before you laugh it off, remembering how Pat Smith destroyed Morris, here is his less-remembered fight directly before that on the same night:

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Daugherty was no ATG or anything (even his claim of being 14-0 with two knockouts is dubious and probably wasn't vetted by the org in those wild and lawless days), obviously but this was still a prettily executed sub finish. Plus, nobody can ever take away Jennum's place in the annals - first tourney champ (albeit as an alternate with zero qualifying bouts).

 

Well, yes, clearly there haven't been 'real' ninjas in the lifetime of anyone currently alive. The schools originated by Hatsumi and some contemporaries in Japan in the middle of the last century and some of their offshoots in other countries are more like syncretic blends of (mostly Japanese, and some Chinese) fighting styles containing if anything maybe faint traces of classical authenticity from techniques actual ninjas may have once used. But given that something like, say, TKD was proven so lacking in those 'martial arts testing' days compared with other, superior arts to draw upon for kicking (MT being the big one, and to a lesser extent savate) but you still have guys today dabbling in TKD - you'd think we might see a few more pro fighters clinging to at least the name of ninjutsu and learning from the relics of the syncretic 90's schools.

 

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Yep.

Crazy that in those days Big John McCarthy didn't even have the option to stop it until the corner's towel came in.

 

I'm very familiar with Gumby; him choking Chuck out ranks as probably my favorite pioneer-era UFC upset. I honestly had no idea (or completely forgot) he had a ninjutsu background.