Robert Malcolm Sapp was born on September 22,1973 and is an American mixed martial artist, kickboxer, professional wrestler, actor, and former American football player.
110 Facts About Bob Sapp
2.
Bob Sapp is currently under contract with Rizin Fighting Federation.
3.
Bob Sapp is well known in Japan, where he has appeared in numerous commercials, television programs, and various other media, and has released a music CD, Sapp Time.
4.
Bob Sapp is currently working sporadically for various MMA promotions in the US, Japan, and Europe.
5.
Bob Sapp played college football as a guard for the Washington Huskies with whom he won the Morris Trophy.
6.
Bob Sapp was drafted in the third round of the 1997 NFL draft by the Chicago Bears with whom he played for one season seeing no game action before playing with the Minnesota Vikings for another two seasons, only playing in one game.
7.
Bob Sapp later began a career in professional wrestling before branching out into mixed martial arts and kickboxing, where he initially enjoyed significant success and popularity before eventually developing a reputation as a tomato can.
8.
Bob Sapp began his athletic career in high school playing football at Mitchell High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
9.
Bob Sapp received a football scholarship to the University of Washington, where he won the Morris Award in 1996.
10.
Bob Sapp took part in "The Whammy in Miami", the Washington Huskies' upset win over the Miami Hurricanes that broke the latter's 58 game home winning streak.
11.
Bob Sapp was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the third round of the 1997 NFL Draft.
12.
Bob Sapp signed with the Minnesota Vikings after being released by the Bears.
13.
Bob Sapp spent two seasons with the Vikings and only played in one game.
14.
Bob Sapp eventually decided to pursue a career in professional wrestling on the advice of his friend Mike Morris, who saw a chance for Sapp on it.
15.
Bob Sapp's professional wrestling career started in NWA Wildside in 2000, before he was quickly contracted by World Championship Wrestling as a developmental wrestler.
16.
Bob Sapp left professional wrestling for many years, attracted instead to a fighting career under the training of fellow WCW developmental wrestler Sam Greco.
17.
In 2002, riding his success in K-1, Bob Sapp made his professional wrestling debut for New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
18.
Bob Sapp first appeared in Wrestle-1, a copromotion between K-1 and AJPW, where he faced Mutoh's alter ego The Great Muta in November 2002.
19.
Bob Sapp defeated him after pinning him with a diving headbutt.
20.
Bob Sapp returned to the event in January 2003, where he wrestled his kickboxing rival Ernesto Hoost, yet this time Sapp lost after Hoost's cornerman Johann Vos intervened in the bout.
21.
In October 2003, Bob Sapp returned to NJPW, taking part again of Inoki's MMA army along with Takayama, Kazuyuki Fujita, Shinsuke Nakamura and Minoru Suzuki to face Nakanishi, Nagata, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Seiji Sakaguchi.
22.
Bob Sapp followed by some team matches along with Nakamura and AJPW's Keiji Mutoh, but his main push would come in his singles career.
23.
On March 28,2004, Bob Sapp defeated Kensuke Sasaki to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, becoming the first African-American to hold the title.
24.
In 2005, Bob Sapp returned to Wrestle-1, taking part on its inaugural Grand Prix tournament and beating Giant Bernard and Jun Akiyama in road to the finals.
25.
On October 16,2007, Bob Sapp made a surprise appearance at Hustle's Korakuen Hall event, attacking Razor Ramon HG and his partner Wataru Sakata.
26.
Bob Sapp's opponent was later confirmed to be Razor Ramon HG, whom Sapp went on to defeat.
27.
Bob Sapp was later put into a tag team with fellow superheavyweight Monster Bono, but a falling out between the two due to miscommunications in the ring led Bob Sapp to attack Bono with a chair.
28.
Bob Sapp then started teaming up with Commander An Jo, eventually entering another feud with Hustle Army member Wataru Sakata.
29.
Bob Sapp was defeated by him, breaking his winning streak in professional wrestling.
30.
Bob Sapp would try to bounce back by participating in the Hustle Grand Prix 2008, but he was shockingly eliminated by Osaka Pro Wrestling representative Zeus after having beaten Tiger Jeet Singh.
31.
In 2008, Bob Sapp began to participate in WWA, a pro wrestling organization in South Korea.
32.
On October 26,2009, Bob Sapp captured the WWA Heavyweight title by defeating Lee Wang-pyo.
33.
On July 24,2011, Bob Sapp made his debut for Dramatic Dream Team at Ryogoku Peter Pan 2011, using a "Beast will fight for money" gimmick.
34.
At a NJPW event on December 20,2012, Toru Yano announced that Bob Sapp would represent the villainous Chaos stable on January 4,2013, at Wrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome.
35.
At the event, Bob Sapp teamed with Yano, Takashi Iizuka and Yujiro Takahashi in an eight-man tag team match, where they were defeated by Akebono, Manabu Nakanishi, MVP and Strong Man.
36.
Bob Sapp made another appearance for New Japan on April 7,2013, at Invasion Attack, where he and Chaos stablemates Takashi Iizuka, Tomohiro Ishii and Yoshi-Hashi were defeated by Akebono, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Manabu Nakanishi and Super Strong Machine in another eight-man tag team match.
37.
In 2002, after Bob Sapp was released from WCW, he was picked up by FX for its amateur boxing show The Toughman Competition.
38.
Bob Sapp was pitted against William "The Refrigerator" Perry as a pro wrestling representative and, despite not having any prior boxing experience, won by knocking out Perry in round 2.
39.
Bob Sapp competed under both rulesets indistinctly for the rest of his career, usually for the promotion K-1.
40.
Bob Sapp lost by disqualification in 1:30 when he pushed Nakasako to the corner, threw him to the ground and rained illegal strikes on him until being restrained by ring crew.
41.
The act caused a brawl on the ring when the cornermen jumped in, but Bob Sapp was surprisingly received with cheers from the crowd.
42.
Bob Sapp became an overnight sensation in Japan afterwards, appearing on numerous television shows and advertisements and becoming K-1's most popular fighter.
43.
Bob Sapp contributed by creating an outrageous public persona, nicknamed "The Beast", under which he played an unhinged, loudmouthed, yet humorous version of himself.
44.
Bob Sapp opened the match almost finishing Nogueira in mere seconds, as the latter charged with a takedown only to be lifted and slammed onto his head.
45.
Bob Sapp looked to repeat the technique, but Nogueira managed to avoid it and momentarily ready Bob Sapp for an unsuccessful armbar.
46.
The bout continued this way, with Nogueira trying fruitless submissions from the bottom while Bob Sapp grinded him with heavy blows, until action finally slowed down into the second round, as Bob Sapp was unaccustomed to such a long time of fighting.
47.
The Brazilian seized an armbar and, although Bob Sapp blocked it, he had no left energy to resist and had to concede the hold and the match.
48.
Bob Sapp actually expressed desire for a rematch, but Nogueira, who came from the fight with both cheekbones broken, actively rejected it.
49.
When Bob Sapp returned to the kickboxing ring the next month, this time against Cyril Abidi and with K-1 chairman Kazuyoshi Ishii as a special referee, he scored his first kickboxing victory, cornering his opponent and unloading punches and hammerfists on him for the KO.
50.
Bob Sapp's greatest in-ring success, though, would come in his match over K-1 legend Ernesto Hoost.
51.
The latter was expected to win thanks to his experience and technical superiority despite being outweighed by over 100 pounds, but Bob Sapp claimed he would not need more than the first round to defeat Hoost, thus setting up an anticipated matchup.
52.
Bob Sapp would compare his situation to "taking someone off the streets and throwing him into the ring with Mike Tyson and then watching that person win," given how much he had accomplished with so little experience and training.
53.
However, Hoost was reportedly discontent with the match's refereeing, citing the illegalities committed by Bob Sapp, and expressed desire for a rematch.
54.
Two months later, Bob Sapp was slated to fight Semmy Schilt at K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 Final quarter-finals, but an injury suffered by the latter granted Hoost his second chance as a replacement.
55.
Bob Sapp declared he would finish him in one round again.
56.
The bout would be a more even affair as although Bob Sapp looked to use his familiar strategy, this time Hoost scored a knockdown through two well placed body blows and survived the first round.
57.
Hoost followed on this tactic at the second, but Bob Sapp eventually stunned him and knocked him down in return via repeated arm clubs to the head.
58.
Bob Sapp prepared specially for the fight, learning proper muay thai and rumoredly training under Bas Rutten.
59.
Still, Bob Sapp was perceived to play a role in popularizing superheavyweights like Choi or Giant Silva in the sport, which he considered an accomplishment.
60.
Bob Sapp had trained orthodox kickboxing with fellow UFC champion Maurice Smith for the match, and it could be noted in several powerful punches and knees that stunned Leopoldo.
61.
However, Bob Sapp's stamina started to falter, which a slightly better conditioned Leopoldo capitalized on to take his turn, eventually knocking Bob Sapp down at the end of the round.
62.
The UFC fighter tried to return the favor, but Bob Sapp was already en route to overpower him and finally rendered him KO with an unchecked rabbit punch.
63.
The event in Las Vegas would not end without more controversy, as the victorious Bob Sapp got in a verbal confrontation with former boxing Undisputed Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson, who was sitting at ringside.
64.
Tyson jumped on the ring after Bob Sapp and caused a brief brawl, after which Bob Sapp and him exchanged challenges for a bout between the two.
65.
Bob Sapp returned to Japan in September, facing another superheavyweight, Stefan Gamlin, under MMA rules at K-1 Japan Grand Prix 2003.
66.
Bob Sapp continued challenging Tyson, claiming he would knock him out with high kicks, and proposed a matchup against Francois Botha.
67.
The match started with Bonjasky, famous for his flying knees and kicks, almost falling out the ring when Bob Sapp threw him on the ropes in response to such attacks.
68.
Bob Sapp attacked Akebono with low kicks and punching combinations to the head and body, knocking him down twice before finishing him by KO at 2:58.
69.
Bob Sapp opened 2004 facing Dolgorsurengiin Sumyaabazar, multiple wrestling champion and brother to yokozuna Asashoryu, under a mixed martial arts ruleset at his own event, K-1 Beast.
70.
Sumyaabazar ended up passing his guard, but Bob Sapp reversed and captured his back, almost closing a rear naked choke, Sumyaabazar had to abandon the match before the second round due to a groin injury.
71.
Bob Sapp looked to defend from the bottom and at one point pursued a heel hook, transitioned into a toehold, but the Japanese escaped to his feet and started delivering soccer kicks with his wrestling shoes to Bob Sapp's head.
72.
Bob Sapp spent the first round covering and guarding up, almost being finished, but he recovered in the second one by taking down Le Banner and raining ground and pound from the mount.
73.
Bob Sapp kept the momentum at the third, utilizing a defensive strategy of charging and clinching to neutralize Le Banner; however, most of the action would take place at the fourth and last, which saw the two trading dominant positions and ended with Sapp looking for an armlock.
74.
Bob Sapp dedicated the fight to the memory of sparring partner Masaaki Miyamoto's father who had recently died.
75.
Bob Sapp met upcoming fighter Yoshihiro Nakao in the quarter-final, where he would fight all three rounds in dominant fashion.
76.
The second would see Bob Sapp uncharacteristically standing still and inviting his opponent to charge at him, which he capitalized on to knock down Hori with hooks before finishing him.
77.
The final saw Bob Sapp being pitted against Tatsufumi Tomihira, a karateka famous for his own fouls.
78.
Shortly after, Bob Sapp returned to MMA format for Hero's, where he was pitted against Russian sumo wrestler Alan Karaev.
79.
However, although Bob Sapp came aggressively again in the second round, his stamina started faltering, giving Choi the chance to unload multiple punches.
80.
On May 13,2006, Bob Sapp was to headline the K-1 show in the Netherlands against Ernesto Hoost, in which Hoost had stated that it was to be his last match in the Netherlands before his retirement.
81.
Bob Sapp attended all the pre-fight press conferences and even attended the opening ceremonies for the show.
82.
K-1 issued a statement claiming Bob Sapp pulled out due to new demands he brought to promoters during the show.
83.
Bob Sapp disagreed with K-1's account of events, claiming the promotion had tried to delay his payment without any contractual safety.
84.
Bob Sapp lost the fight by KO within 20 seconds in the first round by a knee to the liver.
85.
Bob Sapp pointed out a perceived injustice in contemporaneous MMA business, where fighters carrying accolades and important legacies would be left in economic instability after retiring.
86.
On February 10,2007 it was announced by the United Kingdom's Cage Rage promotion that Bob Sapp would appear on its Cage Rage 21 event on April 21, facing Gary Turner.
87.
On short notice, Tank Abbott stepped in for Bob Sapp and lost to Gary Turner.
88.
Bob Sapp faced the South African fighter Jan "The Giant" Nortje at the Strikeforce: At The Dome event in Tacoma, Washington, at the Tacoma Dome on February 23,2008.
89.
Bob Sapp was defeated at the 55-second mark of the first round by TKO after receiving an unanswered amount of punches.
90.
Bob Sapp then returned to Japan on New Year's Eve 2008 and defeated Akihito Tanaka via first-round TKO.
91.
Bob Sapp lost to Japanese Ikuhisa Minowa at Dream 9 on May 26,2009, due to Achilles lock.
92.
Bob Sapp fought and lost to Bobby Lashley at Ultimate Chaos in Biloxi, Mississippi, on June 27,2009, due to first round tapout from strikes.
93.
Bob Sapp was next going to face Stav Economou at BAMMA 5, but the event was canceled due to extreme weather conditions.
94.
Bob Sapp was set to battle Shinichi Suzukawa on New Year's Eve in a Pancrase-style matchup, but pulled out at the last minute due to contract disputes.
95.
On February 11,2012, Bob Sapp debuted for the Asian ONE Fighting Championship promotion.
96.
Bob Sapp faced Rolles Gracie at ONE Fighting Championship: Battle of Heroes in Jakarta, Indonesia and lost via submission to strikes in the first round.
97.
Bob Sapp fought in the main event of the Super Fight League's inaugural event, SFL 1, against James Thompson on March 11,2012.
98.
Bob Sapp tapped out due to a Thompson takedown that caused a leg injury to Bob Sapp in the first round.
99.
Bob Sapp fought Yosuke Nishijima in Nishijima's retirement fight under kickboxing rules Legend 4 in Kumamoto, Japan on November 17,2013.
100.
Bob Sapp was dropped with a body shot, stood back up but was then finished with body shots followed by couple of right hooks.
101.
Bob Sapp announced his retirement in April 2014 citing that he'd paid off big medical bills and will be retiring with several million dollars in savings.
102.
Bob Sapp faced Greg Tony and lost the bout via TKO in the first round.
103.
On January 27,2018, Bob Sapp faced Selcuk Ustabasi at MFC 24.
104.
Bob Sapp had a rematch against Akebono with shoot boxing rules on December 31,2015 at Rizin Fighting Federation Grand Prix event.
105.
Bob Sapp returned in September 2018 at Rizin 13, where he fought former sumo Osunaarashi.
106.
Bob Sapp received intense striking during the first round and was taken down at the second, but he reversed Osunaarashi as they fell and gained top position, from which he controlled the rest of the round.
107.
Bob Sapp went to dominate an uneventful last round for a unanimous decision and his first MMA win in nearly nine years.
108.
Bob Sapp was said to go up against Mike Tyson in a 8 round exhibition boxing match, however no personal terms were agreed and Tyson fought Roy Jones Jr.
109.
In December 2017, it was reported in Japanese newspaper Shukan Bunshun that a woman claiming to be Bob Sapp's girlfriend accused him of domestic violence.
110.
Bob Sapp provided photographs of the alleged injuries and told how she had been abused by Sapp for six years.