
He was the smallest man in the ‘no rules’ tournament and fought five times in one night, including this bare knuckle brawl with an off duty cop twice his size…
‘It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.’ An often quoted proverb that rings true in many walks of life, but none more than the subject matter of this article.
Any fans of combat sports will know that weight classes are an essential part of any legitimate organization. To allow an equal playing field, and also as part of tradition, fighters will compete within the limits of the structure of weight category, but it hasn’t always been that way.
Genki Sudo, a lightweight, pictured above fighting super heavyweight mammoth Eric ‘Butterbean’ Esch in an openweight fight. These types of attractions, often held under the Japanese banners of Pride and Dream, are now rarely seen.
Even the old days of the UFC featured tournaments with no weight restrictions, but still with rules and regulations in place. A great example of this would be Keith Hackney fighting Emmanuel Yarborough at UFC 3.
But how would the smaller men do if there were no rules in place?
Interestingly enough a classic video has resurfaced on the MMA forums lately creating a huge buzz. It features a 175 pound computer geek, who enters a no holds barred, bare knuckle fighting tournament that his LITERALLY no rules at all.