Dennis Alexio was born on Dennis Raymond Dick; March 12,1959 and is an American former professional kickboxer and actor who competed in the light heavyweight, cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions.
31 Facts About Dennis Alexio
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Dennis Alexio rebounded from this by winning the Professional Karate Association World Light Heavyweight title that same year before moving up to cruiserweight and taking the International Sport Karate Association World Cruiserweight Full Contact title.
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Dennis Alexio faced the two toughest tests of his career in 1992 against Branko Cikatic and Stan Longinidis - both of whom were heavier fighters - fighting to a controversial draw with Cikatic and losing to Longinidis via an early low kick KO which resulted in a broken leg.
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Dennis Alexio won 16 championship titles before retiring in 1999.
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Dennis Alexio was born and raised in Vacaville, California, the son of a high school teacher and coach.
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Dennis Alexio attended Will C Wood Middle School before graduating from Vacaville High School in 1977.
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Dennis Alexio was a standout athlete in his youth, excelling in American football, baseball and basketball.
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Dennis Alexio began his martial arts training in Kajukenbo and in college, he played American football as a linebacker, using karate to get faster and more flexible for football.
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Dennis Alexio debuted as a professional kickboxer in early 1980, losing to Mike King via technical knockout in Culver City, California in his freshman appearance.
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Dennis Alexio learned from that fight and trained hard, he went on to win seventeen consecutive fights after that, all by knockout with only one going past the third round.
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Dennis Alexio went by the ring names "The Menace" and "The Terminator".
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Dennis Alexio rebounded from this defeat by winning the PKA World Light Heavyweight title in his hometown of Vacaville on September 14,1984, knocking down Rob Salazar twice in round five en route to a decision win.
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Dennis Alexio made successful defences of this belt against Bernard Clark and Neil Singleton the following year before moving up to the cruiserweight division where he was crowned the International Sport Karate Association World Cruiserweight Full Contact Champion.
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Dennis Alexio won via TKO after the referee stopped the fight towards the end of the fifth round.
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Dennis Alexio fought twenty times at the Neal S Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, winning all twenty by knockout.
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Dennis Alexio floored Rhome with a roundhouse kick on the bell at the end of the fourth before going out and finishing him off early in five.
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Dennis Alexio then defeated a number of middle-of-the-road challengers from around the world under full contact before seeking super fights with champions from other rule sets.
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Dennis Alexio, who had competed exclusively under full contact rules, wanted both fighters to wear foot pads.
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The first two rounds were a battle but Dennis Alexio was winning with his barrage of un-answered uppercuts, hooks to the head and body kicks, but Cikatic was game and did fire back.
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Dennis Alexio utilized his better boxing skills but Cikatic used his powerful low kicks to his advantage.
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However, before the fight was restarted Dennis Alexio hit Cikatic with two left hooks and then kicked at him but missed as he fell to the canvas.
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One of kickboxing's biggest stars at the time, Dennis Alexio was offered the opportunity to fight at UFC 1, the first mixed martial arts tournament held in North America, in 1993 but declined because of the money and he was still recovering from his broken leg and a screw was sheared off by accident into his leg which complicated his return to the ring.
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Dennis Alexio was ordered by the referee to remove his Hawaiian grass skirt at the end of round one, and came out wearing a pair of traditional kickboxing trunks in round two and battered Kimber to a TKO victory.
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On May 31,1997, Dennis Alexio won the vacant International Kickboxing Federation World Heavyweight Championship when he defeated European Super Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion Barrington Patterson, who was often referred to as one of Britain's "hardest men", by TKO at the end of the fifth round in Honolulu.
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Dennis Alexio's title was retired by the IKF on November 24,2003.
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Dennis Alexio starred alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme in the 1989 film Kickboxer.
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Dennis Alexio had a small role in the 1988 film Picasso Trigger in addition to an appearance in a 1990 episode of Super Force.
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On July 1,2003, Dennis Alexio was charged with two counts of bank fraud in addition to failing to pay child support.
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On June 12,2007, Dennis Alexio was arrested at his home in Aiea, Hawaii for failing to appear as a witness before a federal grand jury and on an outstanding federal warrant issued in San Francisco for bank fraud.
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Dennis Alexio was again arrested by federal agents at a coffee shop in Aiea on November 21,2013, and his wife Anitalei was later arrested at their home.
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On January 22,2016, Dennis Alexio was found guilty on 28 counts, including tax fraud, theft, money laundering and using false and fictitious financial instruments.