Bob Sapp crouched on the ramp, his team behind him, torches full of fire on either side. The 6-foot-4, 320-pound former NFL lineman exploded his torso upright, sending the green robe off his back and into the coach’s arms.
It was December 31, 2003, and the Nagoya Dome in Japan was packed with 43,560 people for the K-1 Premium Dynamite combat sports event. Legendary musician Stevie Wonder played “The Star-Spangled Banner” on harmonica as Sapp and opponent Chad “Akebono” Rowan entered the ring. Mike Tyson was on commentary via satellite from Hawaii’s Aloha Stadium.
More than 54 million viewers watched the scenes on Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS), making Sapp vs. Akebono the most watched match in Japan since Muhammad Ali met legendary pro wrestler and fighter Antonio Inoki in 1976. influenced what would eventually become MMA.
“It was so amazing,” Sapp told ESPN. “Can you imagine walking into an arena and there’s so many people there you feel like you’re in a sauna? This hot steam of just body heat and everyone’s talk and energy. When [the music] came on, I could feel the vibrations from the clapping and cheering through my bones. “
Sapp, who played offensive guard at the University of Washington and was drafted in the third round by the Chicago Bears in 1997, was a pop culture phenomenon in Japan, parlaying his professional wrestling, MMA and kickboxing careers into movies and TV commercials. Akebono, a 6-foot-5, 514-pound native of Hawaii, was the first non-Japanese competitor to reach the highest rank of Yokozuna in sumo.
Neither Sapp nor Akebono were successful strikers, but nearly 12 times more viewers watched them compete in a kickboxing match than any UFC or Floyd Mayweather-led main event. Sapp won by TKO at 2:58 of the first round to a standing ovation, but the result was a hindsight.
Such a combat sports spectacle—a hulking NFL veteran throwing arms around an even hulking former sumo champion—can only be found one day a year in one place: New Year’s Eve in Japan.
The tradition began in 2000 as an alternative viewing experience to Japan’s famous Red and White Song Battle, a music competition between teams of Japan’s most popular artists, voted on by judges and viewers at home. It is the country’s most watched show of the year.
In the past 22 years, 108 people have punched Inoki in the face at the annual battle event on December 31st; A UFC pioneer competing against an opponent who outweighed him by over 300 pounds; influencers battle long before Jake Paul became a sensation; 7-foot-tall Korean kickboxer; and some of the best fighters to ever put on a pair of gloves, including Mayweather himself.
This year, the admired collaboration between Japan’s Rizin Fighting Federation and Bellator MMA continues (Saturday at 8:00 p.m. E.T. on Showtime), pitting the best fighters from each promotion against each other at the fabled Saitama Super Arena. Saturday’s card is headlined by Bellator star AJ McKee taking on Rizin Lightweight Champion Roberto “Satoshi” de Souza. The best fighter in Bellator history, Patricio “Pitbull” Freire, fights Rizin featherweight champion Kleber Koike Erbst. Additionally, Bellator’s Gadzhi Rabadanov, who has all-time great Khabib Nurmagomedov in his corner, faces Rizin’s Koji Takeda.
The undercard features a nod to New Year’s past: an MMA bout pitting former sumo wrestler Tsuyoshi Sudario against kickboxing knockout artist Junior Tafa, with fight legend Mark Hunt in his corner. Hunt fought 2000s legends Wanderlei Silva, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, Fedor Emelianenko and Melvin Manhoef four times at the end of year show in Japan.
“It’s like WrestleMania or the Super Bowl,” Eric “Butterbean” Esch said of Japan’s annual Dec. 31 event. “It’s like a fight card that you want to be on that almost no one can get on.
“It’s almost a privilege and an honor to be there.”
Before Sapp was supposed to face Akebono, his opponent was supposed to be Tyson. Scott Coker, the current president of Bellator, worked for K-1 and tried to broker a deal with Tyson’s then-representative Stephen Espinoza, who is now head of Showtime Sports.
Both sides agreed to a deal in principle for Sapp to fight Tyson on December 31, 2003 in a kickboxing match at K-1 Premium Dynamite. But Tyson was denied a visa to enter Japan because he had been convicted of rape a decade earlier. So, Kazuyoshi Ishii, K-1’s promoter, came up with a backup plan. He has Tyson on commentary for Sapp Vs. Akebono match to set up a future match with Sapp. Since Tyson was unable to come to Japan, Ishii’s team instructed Coker to book the boxing knockout artist a flight to Hawaii to better coordinate the time zone difference. Tyson would be part of the commentary team for the New Year’s event broadcast via satellite from Aloha Stadium.
Tyson arrived in Honolulu without a problem, but Coker said he didn’t take his luggage with him, just the clothes he was wearing: a plain white shirt, jeans and sneakers. Coker said he called the K-1 office and explained the situation, that Tyson would be on Japanese television in three days in front of millions of viewers and needed proper clothing. K-1 executives told Coker to take Tyson to the store.
“The next day we’re going to Al Moana Mall,” Coker said. “Of course Mike goes to Versace, buys all these suits, buys all these shirts, buys things like tennis shoes, underwear, tops, socks. And so he’s ready, right? He goes out and fights and looks good. I think the bill was something like 15-20 kroons.
Tyson’s commentary gig went off without a hitch. Sapp told the camera after beating Akebono that Tyson was “next.” The next morning, January 1, 2004, Coker received a call from the hotel manager and commentary team hosting Tyson. He was told to come to Tyson’s room immediately.
“I thought, ‘Oh, did he break it up?’ Was he mad about something?” Coker said. “I just didn’t know. So I come there and she left all the clothes we bought her there. He left his Bruce Lee top and jeans and that was it. So today at my house, in my closet, I have all the rest of Mike’s clothes in there.
“And they’re still in the original Versace bag.”
About an hour’s bullet train ride southwest of Nagoya, on the same night as Sapp vs. Akebono, there was another big combat sports card in Kobe. Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003, which consisted of MMA and kickboxing matches sprinkled with professional wrestling, featured MMA heavyweight legends Emelianenko, Josh Barnett and Alistair Overeem, as well as future stars such as Lyoto Machida and Rich Franklin.
The real action took place after the main event when wildly famous retired fighter, pro-wrestler promoter and politician Inoki decided he wanted to punch 108 people in the face to ring in the new year. In Japan, the number 108 has a special meaning; On December 31, bells are rung 108 times in Buddhist temples to end the old year and start anew.
Inoki’s slaps also have a special meaning.
“My father always told me because Inoki-san was a huge figure in Japan, a big name … if he punches you in the face, you will succeed in life,” said Machida, a Brazilian-born fighter who is on his father’s side. the family comes from Japan. “Since I was a kid, I heard it from my uncle, my father. Because they are Japanese. And I believe it because he punched me in the face and a few years later I became the [UFC] champion.”
Like Machida, many believed that the larger-than-life man’s open-handed punch imparted his fighting spirit to the receiver — including many of the 25,000 people inside Kobe Wing Stadium. Almost everyone wanted to get slapped by Inoki.
“Everybody’s just nervous and trying to be a part of it,” Barnett said. “The barricades are knocked over. The security guys can’t really hold anyone back. Everyone’s crowding around. It’s such a [scene] that when I’m in there, I look at these people and it looks like Dawn of the Dead.”
Courtesy was maintained with the help of Barnett, Machida, fighter/pro wrestler Kazuyuki Fujita and others. Inoki was able to accomplish his goal and punch 108 people in the face, who formed a single file line from the entrance to the center of the ring where Inoki stood.
In retrospect, 2003 was probably the peak of Japan’s martial arts boom. Sapp vs. Akebono became the only program that drew more viewers than the Red-White Song Battle on New Year’s Eve. Inoki put on a huge show in Kobe. And Pride FC drew 39,716 to the Saitama Super Arena for Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Kazushi Sakuraba. Also on the card were bouts featuring Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Royce Gracie and Don Frye.
Between the three cards, over 100,000 people attended combat sports events in Japan on December 31, 2003, with tens of millions more watching at home. All three events were on regular network television in Japan. In comparison, the UFC held five events in 2003, and only two drew more than 10,000 fans. Japan was the center of martial arts during this period. The reality show “The Ultimate Fighter,” which catapulted the UFC to mainstream success, didn’t start until 2005.
“The UFC was weak at the time,” said former Strikeforce lightweight champion and UFC veteran Josh Thomson, who fought Tatsuya Kawajiri on New Year’s Eve 2010. “Pride was the biggest organization. [Fans] weren’t sitting around saying, ‘Oh, UFC is on this weekend.’ They were sitting around saying, ‘Pride is on this weekend.’
Adds production value to the experience. From ceremonial drums to kick-off shows, lasers, extravagant lighting and pyrotechnics, musical acts playing the fighters in the ring, to Lenne Hardt’s unique high-pitched ring announcing in both English and Japanese, there was nothing else like it. martial arts then and now.
“The same way the Super Bowl is sought after and fans are drawn to the energy and electricity of the Super Bowl,” said former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, who fought Shinya Aoki on December 31, 2008 at Dynamite. “It’s not just going to draw fight fans, it’s going to get people who don’t even watch the fight to [tune in] from their living room couches.”
This year marks the first New Year’s Day combat sports card since Inoki’s death on October 1st. Sakakibara said Rizin has something special planned for Saturday to honor one of the most recognizable figures in Japanese history.
“I have had many mentors who have made me who I am today,” Sakakibara said. “But as far as coming up with content, creating content, telling a story, creating a storyline, it wasn’t K-1 champion Ishii, it wasn’t Coker, it wasn’t [WWE’s] Vince McMahon, it wasn’t [UFC’s] Dana White. I learned most from Antonio Inok.
“Antonio Inoki is the person who made me who I am today. Deep down I’m definitely devastated that he’s gone. I feel obligated to put something together to honor him and give back and honor what he’s contributed to our industry. “
Royce Gracie had already done everything there was to do in mixed martial arts. He won the first UFC One-Night Tournament in 1993 and two more UFC tournaments. From submission legend Ken Shamrock to All-American wrestler Dan Severn to 235-pound Hawaiian fighter Kimo Leopoldon, he turned down every promotion put in front of him.
But in 2004, Gracie—a pioneer of MMA pioneers—took on his greatest challenge yet. Literally.
On New Year’s Eve at K-1 Premium Dynamite, Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion Akebono got a ball. Gracie estimates he weighed about 180 pounds then; Akebono, a former sumo champion, weighed about 500 pounds. Back then in Japan – and sometimes now – weight classes were not strictly adhered to.
Gracie said some people around her thought she was “crazy” for taking the fight. But he and his family came up with a novel idea for sparring: pairing two heavyweight fighters to form a single enemy.
“I’d take two 200-pound or 250-pound guys,” Gracie said. “These two—imagine you and me together. I’d hug you. I’d put my left arm around your waist; you’d put your right arm around my waist. My brother would tie a belt around us and we’d become one.
“Sometimes my brother Royler would jump on top of two guys to gain weight. Use your imagination.”
Of course, the Gracie family always marketed their version of jiu-jitsu with the idea that a smaller man could take down a much larger man in a fight using their techniques. And so it was on December 31, 2004, Gracie defeated Akebono by submission of an omoplata shoulder lock at 2:13 of the first round.
Such unusual fights have been common in Japan, especially on New Year’s Eve, dating back to Ali vs. Inoki’s time. In 2003, the 378-pound “Butterbean,” a heavy-handed American boxer, Inoki took on 155-pound mat specialist Genki Sudo at Bom-Ba-Ye. Sudo, a famous fighter who gained fame in music, movies and politics, won with a heel hook in the second round.
In the 2004 main event Gracie vs. Akebono faced Sapp in a four-round bout with kickboxing star Jerome LeBanner, two rounds under MMA rules and two rounds under K-1 kickboxing rules. One of the New Year’s mainstays during this period was 7-foot-2, 350-pound South Korean kickboxer Hong-man Choi, who had fought against the best heavyweight of his generation, Emelianenko, and Croatian heavyweight Mirko Cro Cop. a hammer with brutal blows.
Ken Kaneko and Nigerian-born brothers Bobby and Andy Ologun were celebrities as entertainers in Japan in the 2000s. All three competed multiple times on New Year’s Eve. The Ologuns were almost the Japanese predecessors to Jake and Logan Paul, “influencers” who crossed over to the fighting game and carried their popularity with them.
“It’s entertainment, and it’s far from just punches and fights and all that stuff,” Sapp said. “You have to be entertaining. The Japanese learned that storyline and incorporated it, almost a mix between WWE and real wrestling.
“Jake Paul has come along and they’ve started doing their own version of it.”
There was also a mixing of professional fighters with athletes from other sports, which Inok especially liked to do. Japanese Olympic judo champion Hidehiko Yoshida fought four times on New Year’s Eve, including in 2004 against American wrestling legend Rulon Gardner. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) star Yuji Nagata has two MMA fights under his belt, knockout losses to Cro Cop and Emelianenko on New Year’s Eve in 2001 and 2003, respectively. Shinsuke Nakamura, a New Japan Pro-Wrestling headliner who is now in WWE, wrestled twice on New Year’s cards.
“You have to deliver to non-fight fans to get those ratings,” Sakakibara said. “It’s when these irregular matches happen that people talk about. Something that non-fight fans notice… We need the public to respond to what we’re doing.”
In recent years, these fights have been de-emphasized. On Saturday, Rizin vs. Bellator will be streamed on pay-per-view and not on network TV like previous New Year’s cards, so the idea is to attract more hardcore fans with high-profile fighters. collusion.
While Rizin hasn’t yet put together as many unusual matches as the days of Pride and K-1, they have been few and far between. Gabi Garcia, the 6-foot-2, 210-pound Brazilian jiu-jitsu women’s champion, fought three times on Dec. 31, twice against professional wrestlers. Baruto, a 400-pound former sumo wrestler, has two appearances for Rizin on New Year’s Eve, and YouTuber Atsushi “Shibatar” Saito won back-to-backs in 2020 and 2021.
The most exciting match in recent years took place in 2018. Mayweather came to the Saitama Super Arena and fought then 20-year-old kickboxing star Tenshin Nasukawa, a youthful fighter about 20 pounds lighter, in an exhibition boxing match. Nasukawa landed early, which only infuriated Mayweather. The undefeated boxing icon came back to smoke Nasukawa with combinations for a TKO victory at 2:20 of the first round. Nasukawa was seen crying on camera afterwards.
“It was a different opportunity for me to go to Japan for my first exhibition fight,” Mayweather said. “It was exciting to be a part of the country’s tradition and also to perform there. The people were so nice and it was a lot of fun.”
There are as many foreign stories about Japanese New Year’s Eve as there are fights.
Former Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez said he had trouble finding a sauna when he fought there in 2006 because many facilities in the country ban tattoos because of their ties to organized crime. Former Strikeforce and Bellator champion Gegard Mousasi said a friend he accompanied to fights in 2008 was beaten by women with baseball bats during a late-night party in Roppongi. Alvarez said almost every Japanese fan who asked him for an autograph or photo gave him gifts, including rare memorabilia from the world-famous Japanese anime series Dragon Ball Z.
The fighters on this year’s card will have a chance to make their own memories. McKee’s father, Antonio, fought Aoki under the Dream banner on New Year’s Eve 2012, and the younger McKee said it was meaningful to him that Bellator invited him to compete against de Souza on Saturday. McKee, who wanted to be on the show in 2019 when Bellator made the switch, is particularly excited about using the Japanese rules, which, unlike North American rules, allow kicks and knees to the head of opponents.
“I’m ready for it,” said the 27-year-old McKee, Bellator’s top young star. “Ever since the Pride days, I’ve been watching the Japanese and how they put on their shows – football kicks and knees to the head and stuff like that.
“It’s going to be a different type of fight. It’s just a different style. It’s more barbaric. It’s a side of the fight that people don’t see from me. They haven’t seen AJ fully fired.”
Bob Sapp-Mania hasn’t fully kicked off nearly two decades, but Sapp had a rematch with Akebono for Rizin in 2015, 12 years after the biggest fight in Japanese history. He was never able to face Tyson, although a possible matchup was discussed again in 2020 when Tyson faced Roy Jones Jr. at the show. Sapp also didn’t get to meet Stevie Wonder because Sapp couldn’t leave his dressing area without being mobbed by fans. That’s what it was like for him in the beginning and middle, which included a role in “The Longest Yard” with Adam Sandler and Chris Rock.
“I was in a restaurant [in Japan at the time] and about 3,000 or 5,000 people would gather around the restaurant and the restaurant would close so I could eat,” Sapp said. “And they would start knocking on the glass and screaming my name. The restaurant would start shaking.”
Next year marks the 20th anniversary of Sapp vs. Akebono. The idea of Sapp fighting Tyson may be revisited to give the Red and White singing battle another shot. A miracle can also come with his harmonica. Coker could bring Versace suits.
Of course, this all seems implausible. But we are talking about Japanese martial arts on New Year’s Eve. Anything can happen.
