Bob Sapp

American football career Sapp began his athletic career in high school playing football at Mitchell High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He received a football scholarship to the University of Washington, where he won the Morris Award in 1996. He took part in "The Whammy in Miami", the Washington Huskies' upset win over the Miami Hurricanes that broke the latter's 58 game home winning streak.

Sapp was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the third round (69th overall) of the 1997 NFL draft. He signed with the Minnesota Vikings after being released by the Bears. However, his career took a hit after he was suspended by the NFL in 1998 for steroid abuse. He spent two seasons with the Vikings and only played in one game.

Afterwards, Sapp was left in poverty after being defrauded by his economic advisor, He left professional wrestling for many years, attracted instead to a fighting career under the training of fellow WCW developmental wrestler Sam Greco. on the ringside, where he left Nakanishi to be counted out. He returned to the event in January 2003, where he wrestled his kickboxing rival Ernesto Hoost, yet this time Sapp lost after Hoost's cornerman Johann Vos intervened in the bout.

In 2005, Sapp returned to Wrestle-1, taking part on its inaugural Grand Prix tournament and beating Giant Bernard and Jun Akiyama in road to the finals. However, Wrestle-1 was discontinued before the tournament could be finished.

Hustle (2007–2008) On October 16, 2007, Sapp made a surprise appearance at Hustle's Korakuen Hall event, attacking Razor Ramon HG and his partner Wataru Sakata. Sapp aligned himself with Generalissimo Takada's villainous Monster Army. After defeating Razor Ramon RG in his debut match for the company, it was announced that he would wrestle at the Hustlemania Yokohama Arena event. His opponent was later confirmed to be Razor Ramon HG, whom Sapp went on to defeat.

Sapp was later put into a tag team with fellow superheavyweight Monster Bono, but a falling out between the two due to miscommunications in the ring led Sapp to attack Bono with a chair. Sapp and Bono entered a short feud, which culminated with the American's victory and Bono's expulsion from the Monster Army. Sapp then started teaming up with Commander An Jo, eventually entering another feud with Hustle Army member Wataru Sakata. Sapp was defeated by him, breaking his winning streak in professional wrestling. He would try to bounce back by participating in the Hustle Grand Prix 2008, but he was shockingly eliminated by Osaka Pro Wrestling representative Zeus after having beaten Tiger Jeet Singh. After another short rivalry with Genichiro Tenryu, Sapp was defeated in a rematch against Bono as his last appearance for Hustle.

Independent circuit (2008–2012) In 2008, Sapp began to participate in WWA, a pro wrestling organization in South Korea. On October 26, 2009, Sapp captured the WWA Heavyweight title by defeating Lee Wang-pyo. On July 24, 2011, Sapp made his debut for Dramatic Dream Team (DDT) at Ryōgoku Peter Pan 2011, using a "Beast will fight for money" gimmick. In a comedy match, he was defeated by Danshoku Dino, a wrestler with a homosexual character, being pinned after a kiss and a Gaydo Clutch.

Return to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2012–2013) At a NJPW event on December 20, 2012, Toru Yano announced that Sapp would represent the villainous Chaos stable on January 4, 2013, at Wrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome. At the event, Sapp teamed with Yano, Takashi Iizuka and Yujiro Takahashi in an eight-man tag team match, where they were defeated by Akebono, Manabu Nakanishi, MVP and Strong Man. Sapp made another appearance for New Japan on April 7, 2013, at Invasion Attack, where he and Chaos stablemates Takashi Iizuka, Tomohiro Ishii and Yoshi-Hashi were defeated by Akebono, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Manabu Nakanishi and Super Strong Machine in another eight-man tag team match.

Wrestle-1 (2013) On September 8, Sapp took part in the Wrestle-1 promotion's inaugural event, teaming with Keiji Mutoh in a main event tag team match, where they defeated René Duprée and Zodiac.

Inoki Genome Federation (2009–2014) In 2009, he would compete in the Inoki Genome Federation (IGF). His last match was a lost to Aztecaser on December 31, 2014.

Later career (2014–2017) After leaving IGF, Sapp continued to wrestle in Japan until 2017.

Kickboxing and mixed martial arts career In 2000, after Sapp was released from WCW, he was picked up by FX for its amateur boxing show The Toughman Competition. Sapp was pitted against William "The Refrigerator" Perry as a pro wrestling representative and, despite not having any prior boxing experience, won by knocking out Perry in round 2. After training for six months in United States in the AMC Pankration and Team Quest gyms, Sapp competed under both rulesets indistinctly for the rest of his career, usually for the promotion K-1.

K-1 and Japanese promotions 2002 After arriving to Japan, Sapp debuted in Pride as a K-1 representative against former professional wrestler and longtime Fighting Network RINGS competitor Yoshihisa Yamamoto, who he finished by TKO at 2:44 of the first round by way of wild hooks. The bout, which attracted 10 million viewers, quickly turned Sapp into a fan favorite due to his size, charisma and aggression, and prepared him for his kickboxing debut against Tsuyoshi Nakasako a month later.

In a show held by both Pride and K-1 called "Dynamite", Sapp faced then Pride champion Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira. The latter had originally been slated for a kickboxing bout against K-1 fighter Mark Hunt, but negotiations fell out, as Nogueira had proposed to fight two separate bouts under mixed martial arts and kickboxing rules respectively, which was rejected by Hunt. The Pride champion then accepted to fight Sapp as a replacement, noting that "nobody wanted to fight Sapp, and some other Pride fighters already had their fights matched." Nogueira accepted a special rule to ban knee strikes on the ground, making it a more even affair. Despite this, the match would quickly become a memorable battle of strength against technique. Mirko Cro Cop, who would defeat Sapp in K-1, was quoted as, "It was the craziest fight I've ever seen. I couldn't believe that 'Minotauro' was able to survive all the things that happened to him. He almost broke his spine. Unbelievable." Sapp himself was praised by his performance, to the extent Pride commentators Stephen Quadros and Bas Rutten speculating he could become a major fighter with only more training. The latter was expected to win thanks to his experience and technical superiority despite being outweighed by over 100 pounds, but Sapp claimed he would not need more than the first round to defeat Hoost, thus setting up an anticipated matchup. Once the fight came around, all while under a television viewership of 19.8%, After the round, the ring doctor declared Hoost was unable to continue due to cuts, and Sapp was ultimately deemed winner while Hoost collapsed visibly in his corner, fulfilling his previous prediction.

Two months later, Sapp was slated to fight Semmy Schilt at K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 Final quarter-finals, but an injury suffered by the latter granted Hoost his second chance as a replacement. Sapp declared he would finish him in one round again. Those last seconds were a new source of controversy, as while Hoost was receiving continuous punishment, A worn Sapp forfeited his place in the tournament due to exhaustion and an injured hand, Although Sapp pushed the fight for a minute, the mobile Cro Cop landed a liver shot and followed with a left hand that shattered Sapp's orbital bone, causing him to collapse on the mat and give up while in visible pain. Both Sapp and Cro Cop later talked about rematching under MMA rules, However, Sapp's stamina started to falter, which a slightly better conditioned Leopoldo capitalized on to take his turn, eventually knocking Sapp down at the end of the round. However, Tyson's status as a convicted felon made him unable to get a visa to fight in Japan where the fight would have been most profitable. Other locations for the proposed fight were made, but the fight ultimately never happened.

Sapp returned to Japan in September, facing another superheavyweight, Stefan Gamlin, under MMA rules at K-1 Japan Grand Prix 2003. Despite being outweighed by the first time in his career, Sapp won in 0:52 with a guillotine choke. He continued challenging Tyson, claiming he would knock him out with high kicks, and also proposed a matchup against Francois Botha.

The next month, this time under K-1 rules, he fought Dutch champion Remy Bonjasky at the first round of the 2003 K-1 World Grand Prix. The match started with Bonjasky, famous for his flying knees and kicks, almost falling out the ring when Sapp threw him on the ropes in response to such attacks. The American chased a covered up Bonjasky through the ring while scoring punches and knees, but his opponent eventually bypassed his defense and landed a sharp roundhouse kick to end the first round. Bonkasky kept landing through the second, knocking Sapp down with a combination, but Sapp answered by pushing him to the ground and landing a heavy illegal punch. As Bonjasky refused to continue after the strike, Sapp was disqualified.

At the end of the year, Sapp was involved in a highly publicized matchup at K-1 PREMIUM 2003 Dynamite!! with former yokozuna Akebono Taro, who was doing his debut. The combined popularity of Sapp and Akebono attracted a crowd of 45,000 to the Nagoya Dome and granted the event a 43% viewership (roughly 54 million of the 127 million people in Japan at the time), making it the first time a combat sports event outdrew the NHK music festival Kōhaku Uta Gassen, Japan's traditionally biggest New Year's Eve show. The classical matchup of an American foreigner like Sapp against a Japanese national like Taro, a cultural contraposition, also gained comparisons with Japanese professional wrestling legend Rikidōzan in his bouts against The Sharpe Brothers. After defeating Akebono, Sapp engaged in another verbal exchange with Mike Tyson about a possible match, although nothing came from it. Only two weeks later, he fought against Seth Petruzelli, this time at kickboxing, but the result was similar: although he knocked Sapp down, Petruzelli injured his biceps and was forced to bow out.

After a 0:33 victory over muay thai journeyman Tommy Glanville, Sapp was pitted against wrestler Kazuyuki Fujita at K-1 Romanex. Although the American looked to strike, Fujita scored an early takedown and initiated a grappling scuffle. Sapp looked to defend from the bottom and at one point pursued a heel hook, transitioned into a toehold, but the Japanese escaped to his feet and started delivering soccer kicks with his wrestling shoes to Sapp's head. Fujita kept landing brutal kicks and punches to a desperately covered up Sapp until the latter tapped out at 2:15. After this sound loss, Sapp lost again in a two-round fight against Ray Sefo.

At K-1 Premium Dynamite!! Sapp faced Jérôme Le Banner in a special mixed rules match, in which first and third rounds would be under regular K-1 rules and under MMA rules the second and fourth. Sapp spent the first round covering and guarding up, almost being finished, but he recovered in the second one by taking down Le Banner and raining ground and pound from the mount. He kept the momentum at the third, utilizing a defensive strategy of charging and clinching to neutralize Le Banner; however, most of the action would take place at the fourth and last, which saw the two trading dominant positions and ended with Sapp looking for an armlock. Under the agreed upon rules, the fight was declared a draw. Sapp dedicated the fight to the memory of sparring partner Masaaki Miyamoto's father who had recently died.

2005 would be a fruitful year for Sapp, starting by a win over judo medalist Kim Min-soo at K-1's new MMA sub-promotion Hero's. This prepared Sapp for a run to the 2005 K-1 Hiroshima Grand Prix, where he would face three fighters on a single night in order to qualify for the 2005 K-1 World Grand Prix. In a departure from his performances up to the point, Sapp showcased improvement after intensive training under his long time friend Sam Greco.

Sapp met upcoming fighter Yoshihiro Nakao in the quarter-final, where he would fight all three rounds in dominant fashion. Nakao taunted Sapp during the fight, but the American kept landing kicks and knees in addition to his personal bullrushing style, including also previously unseen counterstrikes. claiming the promotion had tried to delay his payment without any contractual safety. Afterwards, with his K-1 contract finally done, Sapp signed up with Hustle and focused on his professional wrestling career.

After K-1

Since his last matches for K-1 in 2007, Sapp continued his career for small promotions in a limited, non-competitive in-ring way that was described as throwing fights. He would step into the ring after great amounts of promotion, often against upcoming stars and heavily promoted local fighters, only to turtle down and tap out in a few seconds. This routine, labelled in sports as a "tomato can" act, effectively ended his already inconsistent reputation in the sports, attracting large losing streaks and the accusations of "making a mockery of the sport of MMA" and "being a one-man circus". due to Achilles lock. He fought and lost to Bobby Lashley at Ultimate Chaos in Biloxi, Mississippi, on June 27, 2009, due to first round tapout from strikes. On October 6, Sapp stood in for an injured Gegard Mousasi to face Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou in the semi-finals at Dream 11. He lost via TKO (punches) in the first round.

On November 27, Sapp fought against Swedish K-1 veteran Jörgen Kruth. The fight got a lot of publicity in Swedish and international press, but ended with an anticlimax when Sapp's corner threw in the towel after only 45 seconds, after Kruth hit Sapp with a knee to the liver.

Sapp was next going to face Stav Economou at BAMMA 5, but the event was canceled due to extreme weather conditions.

Dynamite, ONE and Legend Sapp was scheduled to fight at K1 Dynamite!! 2010. He was set to battle Shinichi Suzukawa on New Year's Eve in a Pancrase-style matchup, but pulled out at the last minute due to contract disputes. When questioned about Sapp's refusal to fight on the day of the event, FEG President Sadaharu Tanikawa asked, "Does anyone actually care? I don't know the reasons why, but we did our best to make him fight. He just said he didn't want to. This is typical [of Sapp]." Sapp claims he refused to fight after promoters were contracted to pay him $30,000 for the fight, but Tanikawa only offered him $15,000 after he arrived in Japan for the event. Sapp executing one of his finishing moves, the Beast Backbreaker, on Wataru Sakata in Hustle. On February 11, 2012, Sapp debuted for the Asian ONE Fighting Championship promotion. He faced Rolles Gracie at ONE Fighting Championship: Battle of Heroes in Jakarta, Indonesia and lost via submission to strikes in the first round.

Sapp fought in the main event of the Super Fight League's inaugural event, SFL 1, against James Thompson on March 11, 2012. Sapp tapped out due to a Thompson takedown that caused a leg injury to Sapp in the first round.

He also fought Yōsuke Nishijima in Nishijima's retirement fight under kickboxing rules Legend 4 in Kumamoto, Japan on November 17, 2013. Sapp was dropped with a body shot, stood back up but was then finished with body shots followed by couple of right hooks.

Sapp announced his retirement in April 2014 citing that he'd paid off big medical bills and will be retiring with several million dollars in savings (including money doing work outside of fights).

Returning to kickboxing after a nearly two-year hiatus, Sapp appeared at Fight Night Saint Tropez on August 4, 2017, in Saint Tropez, France. He faced Greg Tony and lost the bout via TKO in the first round.

On January 27, 2018, Sapp faced Selcuk Ustabasi at MFC 24. Sapp lost the bout via TKO in the first round.

Rizin Fighting Federation Sapp had a rematch against Akebono with shoot boxing rules on December 31, 2015, at Rizin Fighting Federation Grand Prix event. Unlike his usual performances, he won the fight by technical decision.

He returned in September 2018 at Rizin 13, where he fought former sumo Osunaarashi. Sapp received intense striking during the first round and was taken down at the second, but he reversed Osunaarashi as they fell and gained top position, from which he controlled the rest of the round. He went to dominate an uneventful last round for a unanimous decision and his first MMA win in nearly nine years.

Boxing Sapp was said to go up against Mike Tyson in a 8-round exhibition boxing match, however no personal terms were agreed and Tyson fought Roy Jones Jr. instead.

Clout MMA Sapp was scheduled to fight Piotr Piechowiak at Clout MMA 2: Omielańczuk vs. Bad Boy, but the bout was cancelled.

Fight Circus In 2021, Sapp joined appeared at Full Metal Dojo's Fight Circus 2 in Thailand and started competing regularly in the promotion. On April 2, 2023, Sapp competed in the main event of Fight Circus 6: The Rise or Fall of Sloppy Balboa in a two-on-two boxing match, teaming up with Quinton Jackson against the promotion's CEO, Jon Nutt and Bangtao Muay Thai strength and conditioning coach Andrew Wood. Sapp and Jackson also recreated the Rocky chicken chase scene ahead of the match. Sapp and Jackson were tied together wearing an oversized t-shirt. The event was presented on FITE and Jackson and Sapp won by third-round TKO.

Fighting style Having no background in martial arts prior to his fighting career, Sapp's fighting style was relatively devoid of technique, and was more so distinguished by an aggressive usage of size and strength, pressuring his opponents with an unorthodox "bullrush" technique (which he dubbed as "NFL Style"), whereby he would rush an opponent, usually at the beginning of the round, and overwhelm them with a barrage of punches.

Although defined by his brute strength, Sapp's wins over opponents such as Yoshihiro Takayama and Stefan Gamlin showed that he did possess a knowledge of basic submission techniques.

Personal life In December 2017, it was reported in Japanese newspaper Shukan Bunshun that a woman claiming to be Sapp's girlfriend accused him of domestic violence. She provided photographs of the alleged injuries and told how she had been abused by Sapp for six years. Although the article included an apology message supposedly sent by him, Sapp did not make public comments about the accusation. No civil suit was filed, and no criminal proceedings were announced as a result of the allegations.

Championships and accomplishments

Kickboxing and mixed martial arts Black Belt Magazine 2003 NHB Fighter of the Year K-1 K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Hiroshima Tournament Winner Nikkan Sports Match of the Year (2002) vs. Ernesto Hoost (K-1, December 7) Superkombat Fighting Championship 2011 Special Fight of the Year. Alexandru Lungu) Wrestling Observer Newsletter 2002 Best Box Office Draw- K-1, PRIDE Fighting Championships 2003 Best Box Office Draw- K-1, PRIDE Fighting Championships 2002 Rookie of the Year- K-1, PRIDE Fighting Championships MMA Fighting 2002 Fight of the Year

Professional wrestling New Japan Pro-Wrestling IWGP Heavyweight Championship (1 time) Nikkan Sports Wrestler of the Year (2002) Tokyo Sports MVP Award (2002) World Wrestling Association (South Korea) WWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) Best Box Office Draw (2002, 2003)

Kickboxing record Legend

Mixed martial arts record Win

Ōsunaarashi Kintarō Decision (unanimous) Rizin 13

Saitama, Japan Loss

Aorigele TKO (punches) Road FC 32

Changsha, China Loss

Edson França Submission (rear-naked choke) OX MMA 1

Fortaleza, Brazil Loss

Alexander Emelianenko TKO (punches) Legend Fighting Show 1

Moscow, Russia Loss

Dusan Panajotovic TKO (submission to punches) Ultimate Fight Serbia: Night of the Champions 2012

Belgrade, Serbia Loss

Kim Jong-dae TKO (punches) Road FC 8

Wonju, South Korea Loss

Tolegen Akylbekov TKO (submission to punches) Bushido Lithuania vol.51

Astana, Kazakhstan Loss

Soa Palelei TKO (punches) Cage FC 21

Sydney, Australia Loss

Mariusz Pudzianowski TKO (punches) KSW 19

Łódź, Poland Loss

James Thompson TKO (leg injury) Super Fight League 1

Mumbai, India Loss

Rolles Gracie Jr. TKO (submission to strikes) ONE FC: Battle of Heroes

Jakarta, Indonesia Loss

Alexander Otsuka DQ (illegal slams) ACCEL vol. 18

Kobe, Japan Loss

Maro Perak TKO (punches) Noc Gladijatora 6

Dubrovnik, Croatia Loss

Attila Uçar Submission (achilles lock) Premium Fight Night 1

Vienna, Austria Loss

Stav Economou TKO (punches) Abu Dhabi FC: Round 3

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Win

Sascha Weinpolter Submission (forearm choke) Obracun Ringu 10

Split, Croatia Loss

Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou TKO (punches) Dream 11

Yokohama, Japan Loss

Bobby Lashley TKO (submission to punches) Fight Force International: Ultimate Chaos

Biloxi, Mississippi, United States Loss

Ikuhisa Minowa Submission (achilles lock) Dream 9

Yokohama, Japan Win

Akihito Tanaka TKO (punches) Dynamite!! 2008

Saitama, Japan Loss

Jan Nortje TKO (punches) Strikeforce: At The Dome

Tacoma, Washington, United States Win

Bobby Ologun TKO (punches) K-1 Premium 2007 Dynamite!!

Osaka, Japan Win

Kim Jong-wang TKO (punches and knee) Hero's 2005 in Seoul

Seoul, South Korea Win

Alan Karaev KO (punch) Hero's 2

Tokyo, Japan Win

Kim Min-soo KO (punch) Hero's 1

Saitama, Japan Loss

Kazuyuki Fujita TKO (submission to soccer kicks) K-1: Romanex 2004

Saitama, Japan Win

Dolgorsürengiin Sumyaabazar TKO (foot injury) K-1 Beast 2004 in Niigata

Niigata, Japan Win

Stefan Gamlin Submission (guillotine choke) K-1: Survival 2003

Yokohama, Japan Win

Yoshihiro Takayama Submission (armbar) Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2002

Saitama, Japan Loss

Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira Submission (armbar) Pride Shockwave

Tokyo, Japan Win

Kiyoshi Tamura TKO (punches) Pride 21

Saitama, Japan Win

Yoshihisa Yamamoto KO (punches) Pride 20

Yokohama, Japan Fight Circus record Legend

Mixed rules record Draw

Jérôme Le Banner Decision K-1 PREMIUM 2004 Dynamite!!

Filmography Year Title Role 2003 Bob Sapp: Sapp Time The Movie! Himself 2003 You're Under Arrest Bob Hage 2004 Izo Monk 2005 Elektra Stone 2005 Devilman World Newscaster 2005 Switowski 2007 Big Stan Raymond "Big Raymond" 2009 Frankenhood Frankie 2009 Blood and Bone "Hammer Man" 2011 Blood Out Uncredited 2011 Conan the Barbarian Ukafa 2012 JourneyQuest (6 episodes, Season 2) Karn, The Barbarian King 2013 Miss Pilot Roy 2018 Big in Japan Himself