UFC 1 The Beginning | 12 Nov 93 | |||||
UFC 1 The Beginning | 12 Nov 93 | |||||
Gerard Gordeau (born 30 March 1955) is a Dutch former Savateur, Karateka, Kickboxer, and mixed martial artist. He is the 1991 World Champion Savate and holder of the Dutch Champion Karate title for 8 consecutive years, but foremost known internationally for his fight against Teila Tuli in the first televised Ultimate Fighting Championship bout on 12 November 1993.
Early life
The second of six brothers, Gordeau lost his father when he was 11 and was forced to leave school in order to work for an income. He took up Karate at 16 by influence of an Indonesian friend at whose house Gordeau used to eat. Initially seeing it as just a hobby, Gordeau decided to train seriously after challenging and losing twice to an unassuming Japanese partner. After a year of training in several dojos, he sparred again with him and this time Gordeau won. Thanks to those skills, he held jobs as a bouncer for eight years. Due to the high criminality of the Dutch districts, he would reveal years later that he lived through constant danger of death.
Mixed martial arts career
Gordeau competed at the World Open Karate Championships. Later in his life, following the ideas of Kyokushin founder Mas Oyama, he trained in Wrestling and Boxing in an attempt to make his style more complete. He also learned Muay Thai, Savate and Judo. Gordeau was a Dutch Karate Champion from 1978 to 1985, a European Savate Champion from 1988 to 1991 and a World Savate Champion in 1992, with an overall competitive record of 27-4 before his MMA debut. Gordeau also had some shoot-style wrestling matches under his belt, a Japanese professional wrestling style resembling proto-MMA, having previously had matches at shootwrestling organizations UWF and RINGS, both in Japan.