Forgotten Pioneers/Legends of MMA

What a cool thread. So many names being thrown around in here that I haven't heard or thought of in a while. One that I don't see mentioned is Jason Black(edit: he was actually mentioned on page 4!). He was a Miletich trained guy that was undefeated on the indy circuit in the late 90's early 2000's, there was quite a bit of hype on him like he was going to wreck shit when he finally got a shot in the UFC, it just never really happened though. I remember he fought in the UFC a time or two but I mostly remember him having a few boring fights in Pride.
 
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It really does seem like 98-2004 was the finest era in mma.
 
ShackleMeNot said:
I've always wondered why he doesn't have one. You'd think someone on here knows enough about him to create a page to build on
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He used to have one, but it got deleted since the geniuses that run the MMA articles at Wikipedia determined he was not notable enough to warrant his own page. This is despite the fact that 8 fighters Pele has beaten (Shannon Ritch, Alexander Shlemenko, Matt Hughes, Pat Miletich, Rodney Glunder, Johil de Oliveira, Evangelista Santos, and Jorge Patino) have Wiki pages.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Jose_Landi
 
There's a difference between forgotten fighters and pioneers/legends. Pioneers/legends did something for the sport, elevate it to a certain level in grappling, submission fighting, stand up fighting, ... and reigned supreme or introduced MMA in their country/region (for example).
 
How about Bobby Hoffman? He had some solid wins and was a great fighter in the late 90s
 
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There are some people that deserve to be on a list that no one ever heard of.

Mark Epstein - A solid pioneer-ish of UK MMA and a running buddy of Mr Lee Murray - tough as fucking nails and a standard feature at pretty much every Cage Rage I attended. Basically this guy was Lee Murray tough and would stand and trade with anybody. A very nice guy too - was too old and one dimensional to get a call to the UFC but fuck man was he fun to watch - Mark! I'll see you at Jungle Fever some time :)
Here you go - Bisping VS Epstein



The guy who fought and beat Wandy bare knuckle... probably the greatest Vale Tudo tournament ever (You have to watch all the fights and not just this one), but this fight alone places him at the top of any list - Artur Mariano - worth watching the highlight too - actually the UFC has blocked the fight vid so check the highlight and if you have fightpass watch the event its amazing IVC 2



More to come
 
We shouldn't forget Erik Paulson, and Enson Inoue. Both who brought BJJ to Japan via shooto, (and were perhaps the first to do so).

Paulson won by triangle choke in shooto several months before the Ufc even existed, and Enson was probably the first guy with high caliber BJJ to hook up with Shooto/Sayama. Both definitely helped to pioneer the sport.
 
Ok continuing...

For those that think they know about WWMMA but don't know about UK pioneer Lee Hasdell... shame on you!







This is from his Wiki. Truth is there is so much more that could be written. The guy was literally a real life Kung Fu grandmaster from some old skool jackie chan flick. 100% LEGEND.

He promoted the first professional Mixed martial arts events in the United Kingdom and is known as the 'Godfather of UK Mixed martial arts'.[4][5]

Lee Hasdell started his professional career in 1989, as a Thai Boxer and won three British titles in Kickboxing and Thai Boxing.[6] He would then become one of the first British fighters to compete in K-1 in 1995 after being a stand-by fighter for the company in 1994. Then in 1996, he became a World champion in Shootboxing, after winning the World Oktagon Shootboxing Tournament in Milan, Italy.[7]Hasdell later returned to Kickboxing in April 2000 at K-1 UK Battle of Britain 2000, which was the first ever K-1 event in the UK.

In 1995, Hasdell had begun transitioning into Mixed martial arts and on 18 February 1996, he made his RINGS debut. He is a veteran for the company, having fought for them between 1996–2001, for Fighting Network RINGS in Japan, RINGS Holland, RINGS Russia and also under RINGS UK. After RINGS's dissolution in 2002, Hasdell made a successful Mixed martial arts return in April 2004 and then later an unsuccessful comeback in 2007.

Throughout his career, Hasdell has won titles in Kickboxing, Thai Boxing, Shootboxing, Shootfighting, Vale Tudo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Submission Grappling. He has fought in organisations and events such as K-1, Oktagon, Fighting Network RINGS, IAFC – Absolute Fighting Championships, Cage Rage and has also competed in the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship
 
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BART VALE :cool:
 
Bustamante was the man, plain and simple. As complete a package as you're ever likely to see; unfortunately, he was born 15 years too early for us to see him in his prime against the other greats of 185. His pwnage of a raw Matt Lindland in every facet of the game was a thing of beauty, as was his triumphant mane of chest hair.
 
TRYHARD 2001 said:
Bustamante was the man, plain and simple. As complete a package as you're ever likely to see; unfortunately, he was born 15 years too early for us to see him in his prime against the other greats of 185. His pwnage of a raw Matt Lindland in every facet of the game was a thing of beauty, as was his triumphant mane of chest hair.
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It's been a while since I've seen it but I always thought he should have won the decision over Liddell in their fight. I remember that fight was supposed to be #1 contender for a shot at Tito's belt
 
Gene Lebell. Fought a mixed rules match with boxer Milo Savage in the 1960's.
 
shinobimusashi said:
It's been a while since I've seen it but I always thought he should have won the decision over Liddell in their fight. I remember that fight was supposed to be #1 contender for a shot at Tito's belt
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He also lost a shitty decision against Hendo, where he was definitely the more active guy in trying to finish the fight, and landed better shots
 
Has anyone mentioned Karimula (Always suspected they got the name wrong) Barkalaev?
 
shinobimusashi said:
It's been a while since I've seen it but I always thought he should have won the decision over Liddell in their fight. I remember that fight was supposed to be #1 contender for a shot at Tito's belt
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Nah, he won the third round but Chuck deserved the W.
 
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