20 years of the UFC has come and gone. For sure it is a company that promotes mma that is here to stay.  Where the ancient Roman coliseum were filled to see gladiator which fought to death.  Todays gladiator need not worry about dying in the ring, but scoring fight of the night honors!

Yet before the hubbub and commercialized fights of todays mixed martial arts, which are none the less exciting to view. There was an event that is considered the first introduction to mma which took place 30 years earlier.

Jim Beck wrote an article in Rogue magazine titled ” judo bums”.  Beck claimed he could defeat any judo fighter.  At the end of the article he offered a match between a boxer and a judoka with a prize of $1000.00.  LeBell accepted the challenge. The fight was advertised as “Boxer vs. Judo-Karate” “Something new for sports fans”.

Watch the following and see the results http://vimeo.com/80641551 My point is Judo Gene LeBell introduced the world to Judo in the first ever sanctioned mixed martial art match. Pretty damn cool. Time to go train. As always workout drink be merry.