30 Facts About Gerard Gordeau

1.

Gerard Gordeau was born on 30 March 1955 and is a Dutch former Savateur, Karateka, Kickboxer, and mixed martial artist.

2.

Gerard Gordeau is the 1991 World Champion Savate and holder of the Dutch Champion Karate title for 8 consecutive years, but foremost known internationally for his fight against Teila Tuli in the first televised Ultimate Fighting Championship bout on 12 November 1993.

3.

The second of six brothers, Gordeau lost his father when he was 11 and was forced to leave school in order to work for an income.

4.

Gerard Gordeau took up Karate at 16 by influence of an Indonesian friend at whose house Gordeau used to eat.

5.

Gerard Gordeau had some shoot-style wrestling matches under his belt, a Japanese professional wrestling style resembling proto-MMA, having previously had matches at shootwrestling organizations UWF and RINGS, both in Japan.

6.

In 1993, Gerard Gordeau was scouted to take part in UFC 1, the first event of Ultimate Fighting Championship.

7.

The event's organizers had sought several high-level fighters in Holland, among them Kickboxing champion Ernesto Hoost, but Gerard Gordeau was the only one available and willing to do it.

8.

When Tuli charged towards him with a tsukidashi attack, Gerard Gordeau eluded his opponent and allowed the sumo to crash against the cage wall.

9.

Doctors attended him but, not wanting Gerard Gordeau to have an open wound, and having determined that it would get infected if they tried to extract the teeth, they simply taped his foot.

10.

Gerard Gordeau's punch had broken his hand as well, and he came to the next fight with a noticeably swollen fist.

11.

Gerard Gordeau had a Jewish ethnic background through his father, a Jewish man from France.

12.

Gerard Gordeau's grandfather was shot at the Amersfoort concentration camp for being part of the Dutch resistance.

13.

Gerard Gordeau's next fight was against Kickboxing champion Kevin Rosier, who outweighed Gordeau again by almost 100 pounds and was in slightly better health.

14.

Still, Gerard Gordeau dominated the fight easily, driving Rosier against the fence with multiple leg kicks and jabs while keeping distance.

15.

Gerard Gordeau later justified his illegal attack as, "If you go down, you might as well give him something to remember you by," but he commended Gracie as the better fighter.

16.

In 1994, Gerard Gordeau was approached to fight again in UFC 2, but he refused due to disagreements over his payment after the previous event.

17.

Gerard Gordeau instead arranged for his training partners Remco Pardoel and Freek Hamaker to take his place, with him as a cornerman.

18.

Two years after his UFC stint, Gerard Gordeau applied to the Japanese Vale Tudo Japan tournament.

19.

Gerard Gordeau had been in the previous edition as a cornerman, helping to train fellow UFC competitor Dave Levicki for his unsuccessful match against Royce's brother Rickson.

20.

Gerard Gordeau was pitted against the much lighter Shoot Wrestling exponent Yuki Nakai.

21.

However, after a third round passed again on the ropes, Nakai scored a double leg takedown against the ring corner, escaped from a guillotine choke attempt by Gerard Gordeau, and dropped down for another heel hook, this time managing to submit the Dutchman after half an hour of fighting.

22.

In 2019 Gerard Gordeau revealed that he and Nakai had privately talked about it, and that Nakai had accepted his apologies and no longer harbored any ill feelings.

23.

In 2000, Gerard Gordeau served as a consultant for women's MMA promotion ReMix, where he cornered Marloes Coenen.

24.

Gerard Gordeau trained Dutch K-1 fighter Mourad Bouzidi, along with Anil Dubar, and sometimes the Romanian champion Daniel Ghita.

25.

Gerard Gordeau had his debut in professional wrestling on 13 August 1988 in shoot style promotion UWF Newborn, losing a special match against Akira Maeda.

26.

Gerard Gordeau competed in two bouts against Masaaki Satake and Mitsuya Nagai at "free fight" events held under RINGS.

27.

Gerard Gordeau lost his only match to eventual winner Antonio Inoki.

28.

Gerard Gordeau remained with Inoki as a trainer and wrestler for the Universal Fighting-Arts Organization, cornering Naoya Ogawa in several occasions.

29.

Gerard Gordeau took part in the infamous 1.4 Incident, which occurred on 4 January 1999 at the Tokyo Dome, where UFO member Naoya Ogawa faced Shinya Hashimoto in a pro wrestling match.

30.

Gerard Gordeau returned to the promotion in 2010 at Zero1's Yasukuni Shrine Festival, where he teamed up with his former student Ryoji Sai to defeat Munenori Sawa and Akebono.