Before UFC had weight classes and major athletic commissions overlooking health and safety, MMA was a much different sport to what we all know now.
Openweight bouts were the norm because the Ultimate Fighting Championship looked to prove which discipline would reign supreme in a no holds barred contest. Legends like Royce Gracie were the emergent stars of the primary generation, through which there have been quite a lot of freak show fights.
One man with a novel spot in UFC history is Emmanuel Yarbrough. The American sumo wrestler, nicknamed ‘Manny’ and ‘Tiny’ at different points, tipped the scales well over 600lb but still managed to compete thrice in skilled MMA, compiling a 1-2 record.
Emmanuel Yarbrough won his only MMA fight by ‘smothering’ opponent
After making his MMA debut at UFC 3 against Keith Hackney in 1994, it took sumo star Emmanuel Yarbrough 4 years to try getting back in a no holds barred fight. He was stopped inside two minutes by Hackney, despite outweighing him by almost 400lb.
As with many Americans of a considerably larger stature, comparable to Bob Sapp and later Brock Lesnar, Yarbrough became a fascination in Japan. Shoot Boxing signed him up for his or her first event in Yokohama, booking him in with Tatsuaki Nakano for an openweight bout.
Yarbrough bundled across the ring before type of sprawling and using his size to get the Japanese fighter to the bottom. From there, he almost pushed his rival out of the ring before the referee re-set them back inside the ropes.
The American was put back in top position and easily lay on top of his opponent, stopping him from respiratory until the fight was called after just over a minute of motion. The official time of the stoppage was 1:17.
Emmanuel Yarbrough had difficult life out and in of the cage
Yarbrough was a record breaker for his athletic endeavours, earning a spot within the Guinness Book of World Records for the world’s heaviest living athlete. It’s reported that by the age of just 14 he already weighed over 320lb, which played an enormous part in his early footballing success.
Nonetheless, his battles with food addiction ultimately saw him balloon to over 600lb making movement very difficult as he got older. He competed in sumo and skilled wrestling world wide, and was spotted with major celebrities comparable to Matthew Perry and even Miley Cyrus.
In 2007 he managed to lose 130lb after coping with a therapist for obesity. Nonetheless, heart problems ended up costing him his life and he passed away on the age of 55 in December of 2015 after suffering a heart attack.
