Salvatore "Sam" Greco was born on 3 May 1967 and is an Australian retired full contact karateka, heavyweight K-1 kickboxer, and mixed martial artist.
22 Facts About Sam Greco
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Sam Greco was the 1994 Karate World Cup champion and holds notable kickboxing victories over Branko Cikatic, Ernesto Hoost, Mike Bernardo, Stefan Leko, and Ray Sefo, as well as MMA victories over Heath Herring and Shungo Oyama.
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Salvatore Greco was born on 3 May 1967, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and grew up in the suburb of Brunswick.
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In 2015, Sam Greco stated that he considered the part of Brunswick that he grew up in was 'rough' at the time, and ultimately contributed to his fitness and mental development from a young age.
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Sam Greco's Italian-born father, Vittorio, encouraged him to get involved with soccer from an early age and joined the local Italian backed club, Juventus.
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Sam Greco joined Juventus at the age of six, playing as a junior for nine years where in 1983 he would win the club's best-and-fairest for their under-sixteen squad.
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Sam Greco made his national debut in the fifth round of the season on 1 April 1984, two days before his seventeenth birthday.
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Sam Greco started training in Kyokushin karate at the age of 11 and commenced tournament fighting at the age of 18 establishing himself as one of Australia's best Kyokushin fighters in the late 1980s and early 1990s winning the heavyweight division of the Australian championships five times in 1988,1989,1990,1991 and 1992.
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In June 1993, Sam Greco had his first karate fight at the K-1 Sanctuary III a kickboxing tournament promoted by Seidokaikan karate founder Kazuyoshi Ishii.
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Sam Greco fought Keisuke Nakagawa who had placed 6th in the 2nd Karate World Cup.
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In October 1993, Sam Greco competed in the 3rd Karate World Cup defeating Minoru Fujita to make the quarter finals to fight Toshiyuki Atokawa with the judges decision a draw after the first round, and again in the second round, with the fight awarded to Toshiyuki Atokawa on weight difference, who went on to place 3rd.
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In October 1994, Sam Greco competed in the 4th Karate World Cup making the final after winning four fights.
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Sam Greco was originally signed to professional wrestling company World Championship Wrestling, but never wrestled for them, as it folded before he could debut beyond a backstage vignette.
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Sam Greco made his pro wrestling debut in December 2000, when he was working in WCW's developmental territory NWA Wildside.
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In 1995 Sam Greco had a small part as an enforcer in the Richard Norton movie Under the Gun, known as Iron Fist, which was filmed in Victoria.
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Sam Greco played the stunt double for retired professional wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin in the 2007 action thriller The Condemned and had a small part in the 2008 Australian boxing drama film, Two Fists One Heart which was shot in Western Australia.
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Sam Greco has appeared occasionally in movies as a fight consultant and martial arts advisor.
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Sam Greco had a small part in the fourth episode of the Australian mini-series Underbelly, playing nightclub bouncer Bruno Bolotzi.
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Sam Greco had a small part in an episode of the Australian comedy Pizza, playing the Roman soldier Glutious Maximus.
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Sam Greco made another appearance for Pizza this time in a two-part episode Holiday Pizza, playing Pauly's Italian cousin Luigi.
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Sam Greco had a part in the Australian comedy Swift and Shift Couriers as Louie "Luigi" Marietti.
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On 23 March 2018, Sam Greco suffered a heart attack prior to and during his fighter Jimmy Crute competing in the Hex Fight Series and had triple bypass surgery.