Sumo vs Savate: Inside the Historic First Fight in UFC History

On November 12, 1993, two men stepped into an oddly shaped cage to determine who possessed superior fighting skills. Twenty-six seconds later, the face of the martial arts and the entire sporting landscape had changed forever - although no one knew it at the time.

One of those men was a massive sumo wrestler from Hawaii, who fought under the name of Teila Tuli. The other was a lanky Dutch striker named Gerard Gordeau. Their looks weren’t the only thing that was different; the two combatants came to this event, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, a competition designed to mind the world’s toughest man, via very different paths.

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