Teila Tuli’s Flying Tooth
The first fight on the UFC 1 broadcast back in 1993 gave fans a brutal introduction to the sport of MMA.
Kickboxer Gerard Gordeau was lined up to fight a giant sumo wrestler by the name of Teila Tuli, but the Dutch striker wasn’t phased by the size difference.
Instead, less than 30 seconds into the fight Gordeau dropped Tuli with a punch and then ruthlessly kicked him in the face, a blow that would end the fight.
“I think Teila lost a tooth,” Kathy Wallace stated in the commentary booth.
“I think it did,” Bill Wallace confirmed. “It came out toward us!
“Maybe we can put it under the bed and we’ll get a quarter in the morning!”
One of Tuli’s teeth had indeed been sent flying out of the Octagon, while two others were left embedded in Gordeau’s foot and eventually led to him spending most of the next month in hospital due to an infection.
