| Gerard Gordeau | |
|---|---|
 Gerard Gordeau (top, in whitegi pants) fightsYuki Nakai | |
| Born | (1956-03-30)30 March 1956 (age 68) The Hague, Netherlands |
| Height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) |
| Weight | 216 lb (98 kg; 15.4 st) |
| Style | Kyokushin Karate,Savate |
| Team | Dojo Kamakura |
| Rank | 9th danKyokushin Karate[1] 4th danKyokushin Karate (NKA) 7th dan Sei Budo Kai 2nd dan Full-Contact Karate(USA) 3rd Silver glove inSavate (Boxe Francaise) 4th dan Oyama Karate |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Total | 4 |
| Wins | 2 |
| By knockout | 2 |
| Losses | 2 |
| By submission | 2 |
| Other information | |
| Mixed martial arts record fromSherdog | |
Last updated on: 27 November 2016 | |
Gerard Gordeau (born 30 March 1956) is a Dutch formerSavateur,Karateka,Kickboxer, andmixed martial artist. He is the 1991 World Champion Savate and holder of the Dutch ChampionKarate title for eight consecutive years, but foremost known internationally for his fight againstTeila Tuli in the first televisedUltimate Fighting Championship bout on 12 November 1993.
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.[2] He took upKarate at 16 by influence of anIndonesian friend at whose house Gordeau used to eat. Initially seeing it as just a hobby, Gordeau decided to train seriously after challenging and losing twice to an unassuming Japanese partner. After a year of training in several dojos, he sparred again with him and this time Gordeau won.[2] Thanks to those skills, he held jobs as abouncer for eight years.[3] Due to the high criminality of the Dutch districts, he would reveal years later that he lived through constant danger of death.[2]
Gordeau competed at the World Open Karate Championships. Later in his life, following the ideas of Kyokushin founderMas Oyama, he trained inWrestling andBoxing in an attempt to make his style more complete.[2] He also learnedSambo,Muay Thai,Savate[4][5] andJudo.[3][6] Gordeau was a Dutch Karate Champion from 1978 to 1985, a European Savate Champion from 1988 to 1991 and a World Savate Champion in 1992, with an overall competitive record of 27-4 before his MMA debut. Gordeau also had someshoot-style wrestling matches under his belt, a Japaneseprofessional wrestling style resembling proto-MMA, having previously had matches at shootwrestling organizationsUWF andRINGS, both in Japan.[7]
In 1993, Gordeau was scouted to take part inUFC 1, the first event ofUltimate Fighting Championship. The event's organizers had sought several high-level fighters in Holland, among them Kickboxing championErnesto Hoost,[8] but Gordeau was the only one available and willing to do it. As he had been aSavate champion the previous year, he was billed solely as a Savate artist.[2] According to him, he was initially pitted againstRoyce Gracie in the first round of the tournament, but when the organizers found out that Gordeau had previously competed inFighting Network Rings, they changed the matchup: Gracie would fightBoxerArt Jimmerson instead, while Gordeau would face 400 poundSumo expertTeila Tuli on the opposite side of the bracket.[2][3]
In his first bout, also the first televised match in the history of UFC, Gordeau defeated Tuli in a fight that lasted only 26 seconds. When Tuli charged towards him with atsukidashi attack, Gordeau eluded his opponent and allowed the sumo to crash against the cage wall.[9] The Dutchman then took stance and threw a rightroundhouse kick to Tuli's face,[10][11][12] following with a rightuppercut that cut Tuli's eye,[9] before the referee intervened to stop the match.[4][13]
Victorious, Gordeau advanced to the next round, although the bout left him injured, as the kick had knocked out three of Tuli's teeth and two of them had been stuck in Gordeau's foot. The announcers claimed that the third tooth landed underneath their table, although other reports say it landed on the crowd.[9][12] Doctors attended him but, not wanting 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] Gordeau's punch had broken his hand as well, and he came to the next fight with a noticeably swollen fist.[3]
In an unrelated matter, Gordeau's debut caused a minor controversy because he appeared to do aRoman salute before the match, gaining him accusations of being aneo-nazi, but it was explained that he was actually doing the traditional savate salute. In fact, Gordeau had aJewish ethnic background through his father, a Jewish man from France. His grandfather was also shot at theAmersfoort concentration camp for being part of theDutch resistance.[14][15][16]
His next fight was against Kickboxing championKevin Rosier, who outweighed Gordeau again by almost 100 pounds and was in slightly better health. Still, Gordeau dominated the fight easily, driving Rosier against the fence with multipleleg kicks andjabs while keeping distance. After half a minute of harassment, Gordeau pushed Rosier down to the mat withknee andelbow strikes to the head, forcing him to cover down shielding his face,[9] and then finished him with astomp to theliver.[4][3]
Finally, the Dutchman facedBrazilian Jiu-Jitsu stylistRoyce Gracie in the championship bout. During the fight, Royce attempted adouble leg takedown followed by akosoto gake, but Gordeau blocked them and clamped to the cage wall to avoid being taken down.[3][9] However, Gracie eventually repeated the throw and floored the Dutchman. According to Gordeau, Royce had been warned by the UFC doctors about his injuries and took advantage of this to overpower him.[3] While Gordeau was under Gracie'smount, he allegedly bit Gracie's ear in an intentional foul,[17] but Gracie, after landing somepalm strikes andheadbutts,[9] still managed to submit Gordeau with arear naked choke to win the fight and the tournament. The Brazilian also held the choke for a long time after Gerard's tap out in retaliation for the foul play.[3]
Gordeau later justified his illegal attack as, "If you go down, you might as well give him something to remember you by," but he also commended Gracie as the better fighter.[6] In 2012, Royce would visit Gordeau's dojo inThe Hague to train, about which the Dutch fighter stated: "It was the first time after 20 years that we spoke. No hard feelings!"[6]
In 1994, Gordeau was approached to fight again inUFC 2, but he refused due to disagreements over his payment after the previous event. He instead arranged for his training partnersRemco Pardoel and Freek Hamaker to take his place, with him as acornerman.[2]
Two years after his UFC stint, Gordeau applied to the JapaneseVale Tudo Japan tournament. He had been in the previous edition as a cornerman, helping to train fellow UFC competitor Dave Levicki for his unsuccessful match against Royce's brotherRickson.[18]
Gordeau was pitted against the much lighterShoot Wrestling exponentYuki Nakai. Taking advantage of the ring they were fighting in, Gordeau grabbed the ropes to avoid takedowns and scored several strikes on Nakai through the first two rounds, including several illegaleye gouges when Nakai was down from aheel hook attempt. However, after a third round passed again on the ropes, Nakai scored adouble leg takedown against the ring corner, escaped from aguillotine choke attempt by Gordeau, and dropped down for another heel hook, this time managing to submit the Dutchman after half an hour of fighting.[19] Refusing to seek medical attention in order to continue in the tournament, Nakai lost the sight in his right eye from the gouge.[20]
As with his fouls in UFC, Gordeau was unapologetic of his action, stating that he would do it again if he rematched Nakai. These claims attracted a great deal of criticism.[21] In 2019, however, 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. Gordeau also praised Nakai's fighting spirit during the bout.[2]
In 2000, Gordeau served as a consultant forwomen's MMA promotion ReMix, where he also corneredMarloes Coenen.[22]
Gordeau, along with his brothers Al and Nico, owns the DojoKamakuraArchived 2019-10-02 at theWayback Machine inThe Hague. He also trained DutchK-1 fighterMourad Bouzidi, along with Anil Dubar, and sometimes the Romanian championDaniel Ghiță. Famous students are Cem Senol of the Dojo Osaka Netherlands, and Robert Pepels of theAshigaruArchived 2019-08-05 at theWayback Machine Honbu Dojo Netherlands and founder of the Ashigaru Ryu style. Gordeau runs anInternational Karate OrganizationArchived 2019-09-09 at theWayback Machine together with Pepels, and teaches at camps and seminars worldwide.
Gordeau had his debut inprofessional wrestling on 13 August 1988 inshoot style promotionUWF Newborn, losing a special match againstAkira Maeda. He also competed in two bouts againstMasaaki Satake andMitsuya Nagai at "free fight" events held underRINGS.[7]
In 1995, he took part inNew Japan Pro-Wrestling's four-man Final Countdown BVD Tournament on January 4 at the Tokyo Dome duringBattle 7. He lost his only match to eventual winnerAntonio Inoki. Gordeau remained with Inoki as a trainer and wrestler for the Universal Fighting-Arts Organization, corneringNaoya Ogawa in several occasions.
He took part in the infamous 1.4 Incident, which occurred on 4 January 1999 at the Tokyo Dome, where UFO memberNaoya Ogawa facedShinya Hashimoto in a pro wrestling match. Gordeau was in Ogawa's corner along withKazunari Murakami andTiger Mask, and when Naoya turned the bout into ashoot by brutally striking Hashimoto, who had no idea what was going on, Gerard and his colleagues had to protect Ogawa from the NJPW crew in the subsequent brawl. Gordeau later criticized Ogawa's action.[2]
Through 2001 and 2002, Gordeau participated in variousPro Wrestling Zero1 events, wrestling in singles matches against names likeShinya Hashimoto,Masato Tanaka,Samoa Joe andSteve Corino. He returned to the promotion in 2010 at Zero1'sYasukuni Shrine Festival, where he teamed up with his former studentRyoji Sai to defeatMunenori Sawa andAkebono.[23]
| 4 matches | 2 wins | 2 losses |
| By knockout | 2 | 0 |
| By submission | 0 | 2 |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 2–2 | Yuki Nakai | Submission (heel hook) | Vale Tudo Japan 1995 | 20 April 1995 | 4 | 2:41 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Loss | 2–1 | Royce Gracie | Submission (rear-naked choke) | UFC 1 | 12 November 1993 | 1 | 1:44 | Denver, Colorado, United States | UFC 1 Tournament Final. |
| Win | 2–0 | Kevin Rosier | TKO (corner stoppage) | 1 | 0:59 | UFC 1 Tournament Semifinal. | |||
| Win | 1–0 | Teila Tuli | TKO (head kick) | 1 | 0:26 | UFC 1 Tournament Quarterfinal. First televised fight in UFC history.] |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 27–6 |  Toshiyuki Atokawa | Decision | K-1 Illusion 1993 Karate World Cup | 2 October 1993 | N/A | N/A | Osaka, Japan | |
| Loss | 27–5 |  Adam Watt | KO (right back blow) | K-1 Illusion | 4 September 1993 | 2 | 2:07 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Win | 27–4 |  Jokovic | TKO | Savate World Championship | 25 May 1991 | 3 | 0:01 | Paris, France | For Savate World Heavyweight Championship |
| Win | 26–4 |  Simon Bienvenu | KO | Savate World Championship | 27 April 1991 | N/A | N/A | Toulouse, France |
| Karate record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Result | Opponent | Event | Location | Method | Round | Time | Record |
| 1991-10-10 | Win | Masaaki Satake | Karate World Cup '91 - All Japan Karate Championship | Decision (Divided) | 3 | |||
| Legend: Win Loss Draw/No contest Notes | ||||||||
